Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and King Abdullah II of Jordan called Thursday in Cairo for an “immediate” end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, accusing Israel of inflicting “collective punishment” aimed at “starving” there. the Palestinians and “force them to move”, reports Amman.
Triggered by a bloody attack launched by Hamas on Israeli soil, a war has opposed Israel and the Palestinian movement, in power in the Gaza Strip, since October 7. Israel responded by bombing this territory where hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.
The Egyptian and Jordanian leaders were initially scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, but Jordan canceled the summit.
“Egypt and Jordan reject the policy of collective punishment through siege, imposed hunger and forced displacement” of the inhabitants of the poor and overpopulated territory, announced the Jordanian royal palace.
The two Arab leaders also warned of “a regional catastrophe” in the event of a “spread” of the conflict while calling for “an immediate end” to hostilities.
Egypt, bordering the Gaza Strip, and Jordan, bordering the occupied West Bank, are linked to Israel by peace treaties concluded respectively in 1979 and 1994, putting an end to the state of war with their neighbor.
These two countries, which have often played mediators between Israelis and Palestinians, have been warning for several days against a “forced displacement” of Palestinians on their soil.
Thursday morning, Mr. Sissi received Michael Kurilla, head of the American military command for the Middle East, Central and South Asia (CENTCOM), to discuss “the situation in Gaza,” his office announced.
At the same time, the head of Egyptian diplomacy, Sameh Choukri, and his British counterpart, James Cleverly, affirmed together in Cairo that “the priority” was to “provide humanitarian aid to the Gazans”.
Egypt, which holds the only opening to the world in the Gaza Strip which is not controlled by Israel, announced Thursday that it is committed to allowing humanitarian aid to pass through the Gaza crossing point in a “sustainable” manner. Rafah towards this Palestinian territory in a state of total siege.
But Cairo says it still needs to repair bombed roads between the two border crossings. Hundreds of aid trucks are still stationed at the gates of the Gaza Strip, which is relentlessly shelled by Israel.