Egyptian President hosts Dutch PM, condemns Gaza violence
Following his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister and incoming NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged Israel to open Gaza to humanitarian aid and to keep offensive initiatives at bay in Rafah.
Rutte also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the same day, reiterating his “urgent call for the supply of humanitarian aid to be stepped up massively – and without delay” and demanding that Israel “drastically reduce the level of force,” he wrote in an X post.
“It’s good to see that Egypt, Qatar and the US are working to [increase humanitarian aid],” Rutte added. “I hope these discussions will quickly achieve the desired result, leading to a permanent end to the conflict.”
On March 15th, al-Sisi shared that he hoped to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel that would boost aid deliveries and allow displaced peoples from the southern enclave to move back north, according to Reuters.
READ: Gaza: Mass displacement stokes Egyptian fears
“We are talking about reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, meaning a truce, providing the biggest quantity of aid,” he said in comments recorded during a visit to the police academy. He added that this included “curbing the impact of this famine on people, and also allowing for the people in the centre and the south to move towards the north, with a very strong warning against incursion into Rafah.”
Al-Sisi has openly and repeatedly condemned the war in Gaza, stating on October 28th that an expansion of the conflict would make the region a “ticking time bomb.”
At a joint news conference, al-Sisi warned Israel against launching a ground military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, stating that “what the occupying authority is doing to civilians in the Gaza strip represents a grave violation of international law and international humanitarian law.”
An attack on Rafah, which borders Egypt, would threaten the lives of the estimated 1.5 million people currently residing there, al-Sisi added. Before the war, Rafah had a population of under 300 thousand.
READ: UNRWA worker killed in Israeli air strike on aid centre
Egypt has previously warned that any movement of Palestinians into Egypt would threaten the four-decade-old peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
In a press briefing on March 13th, Chief Spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that Israel would make sure all 1.5 million of Rafah’s inhabitants or “at least a significant amount” would leave ahead of any offensive action, according to BBC.
He proposed that Rafah’s displaced people could move to “humanitarian islands that we will create with the international community,” also providing temporary housing, food and water.
He did not say when this would occur, nor when the Rafah offensive might begin.
