CAIRO: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Thursday that Gazans must stay steadfast and remain on their land, amid demands for Cairo to allow safe passage for civilians stuck in Gaza.
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is the only passage in and out of the coastal enclave not controlled by Israel.
Israeli planes have bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since Saturday in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack on Israel that has killed at least 1,200 people, and looks poised to send ground forces into Gaza where official have reported more than 1,400 deaths.
El-Sisi said that Cairo is committed to ensuring the delivery of assistance, both medical and humanitarian at this tough time, affirming Egypt’s firm position of ensuring Palestinians’ legitimate rights, according to AFP.
However, he stressed in a speech at a military ceremony, that Gazans must stay steadfast and remain on their land.
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The tiny coastal enclave home to about 2.4 million people, already blockaded since 2007, is under complete siege by Israel which has cut off food, water, and power supplies.
Six days of relentless Israeli air and artillery attacks have reduced entire districts to rubble.
Egypt a key intermediary
Egypt, historically an important intermediary between Israel and Hamas, has called for donors to send humanitarian assistance bound for Gaza to El Arish airport but has pushed against demands to allow fleeing Palestinians into its land.
Egypt has pushed for a diplomatic solution and uged for restraint from both sides, while El-Sisi has emphasized his nation’s national security was his primary responsibility.
On Thursday, El-Sisi said that Cairo was already hosting 9 million guests, as he call them, from many nations who came to Egypt for security and safety.
But the case of Gazans “is different,” he added, because their displacement would mean the elimination of the Palestinian) cause.
Egypt was the first Arab country to normalize ties with Israel in 1979, after a six-year war that ended in 1973 with Egypt regaining the Sinai Peninsula from Israeli control.
