Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has held talks with Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to discuss a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as Israel intensifies its offensive to seize Gaza City.
According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency, El-Sisi and the Qatari leader stressed the importance of efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The two leaders “affirmed their rejection of the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of Palestinians,” as Israel plans to seize Gaza City and force Palestinians from the enclave’s main urban centre.
The Egyptian presidency statement noted that El-Sisi and the Qatari leader also emphasised that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, “with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions, represents the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East.”
“In this context, the President emphasised the need to immediately begin the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire and to prepare for the Cairo International Reconstruction Conference, in cooperation with the Palestinian government and the United Nations.”
Egyptian presidency statement
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been mediating between Israel and Hamas since the beginning of the war in Gaza that has killed 62,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children.
Efforts by mediators have so far failed to secure a lasting ceasefire in the ongoing war, which over more than 22 months has created a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
A truce brokered by Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators that came into force in January was broken by Israel in March.
Since then, it has imposed a total blockade, causing famine and starvation. More than 260 Palestinians have died due to the Israeli-induced starvation crisis.
The latest round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, facilitated in Doha by mediators, lasted for several weeks before ending on July 25 without any results.
Commenting on the Qatari Prime Minister’s trip to Egypt, Abdullah Al-Arian, an Associate Professor of history at Georgetown University in Qatar, said that it was important to remember that similar negotiations have occurred before, but it is “a lack of Israeli political will” that has ultimately stalled them.
He told a news agency that Israel “has continued to pursue this genocide and taking it to new, horrific, unprecedented levels,” adding that there has been a lack of international pressure to secure a ceasefire agreement.
Egyptian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, visiting the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, said that Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani was visiting the country “to consolidate our existing common efforts in order to apply maximum pressure on the two sides to reach a [ceasefire] deal as soon as possible.”
Alluding to the dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living in the Gaza Strip, where UN agencies and aid groups have warned of famine, Abdelatty stressed the urgency of reaching an agreement.
He told a news conference as he visited the Rafah crossing with Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Mustafa that the current situation “on the ground is beyond imagination.”
Egypt’s Calls For Aid To ‘Flood’ Gaza
Speaking at the border crossing news conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty stressed that Egypt “is ready to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid as soon as the Israeli restrictions are removed.”
Abdelatty said that Egypt rejects “any Palestinian displacement” from Gaza.
“Our position on the Palestinian issue is firm and unchanging. We reiterate our rejection of all policies aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause.”
Badr Abdelatty
Egypt has said its side of the Rafah border crossing remains open, but that the Palestinian side has been blocked by Israel since the war broke out. However, Egypt has also often helped to enforce Israel’s siege of Gaza since 2007.
Thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee again from Gaza City ahead of an impending Israeli offensive.
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