Egypt, along with 8 other Arab countries reject forced displacement of Palestinians

CAIRO – 26 October 2023: The foreign ministers of Egypt and eight other Arab countries reiterated on Thursday rejection of the forced displacement of the Palestinian people and attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause at the expense of the Palestinian people and the other peoples in the region.

In a joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Morocco, it was stated that such attempts are a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and are considered war crimes.

The statement comes in the wake of the Cairo Summit for Peace, that was held on Saturday, and in light of the unrelenting Israeli violations of international humanitarian law, the growing escalation in the Palestinian territories, especially in the Gaza Strip, and the continued fall of innocent victims.

The statement condemned the targeting of civilians, infrastructure and civilian facilities. It also considered attempts to drive Palestinians out of their lands a flagrant breach of international law and a war crime.

Well-informed sources have reported intensified coordination between Egypt and Qatar to ensure the release of the captives taken by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

On 7 October, Hamas launched an attack against Israeli cities, where it took dozens of Israelis captives. According to the Islamist group, it currently holds around 200-250 captives.

Earlier this week, Egyptian-Qatari diplomacy has also facilitated the release of two elderly women by Hamas, which are Nurit Cooper (80) and Yocheved Lifshitz (85), for compelling humanitarian and health reasons.

Hamas also freed the release comes days after two American women, Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan, were freed.

Hamas also released on Friday two American women, Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan.

On Wednesday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said he and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the importance of giving the opportunity and time for working on the release of more captives in Gaza by achieving as much de-escalation as possible.

Macron said France will work with Egypt to release all captives taken by Hamas.

Egypt has condemned the attacks against civilians on 7 October as well as the subsequent unrelenting Israeli attacks in Gaza, which have killed more than 6,500 Palestinians, injured more than 18,400 people and displaced around 1.5 million inhabitants.