The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation of “the recent escalation in military operations in the Gaza Strip by Israel” in a Thursday evening statement, calling on it to exercise “maximum restraint” regarding military operations that would only “inflame” the situation and not help Israeli security.
“Egypt stresses the legal responsibility of Israel as an occupying power to protect the lives of civilians and refrain from methods of collective punishment and the use of excessive and unjustified force,” read the ministry’s statement.
The foreign ministry also called on “all concerned parties” to immediately accept the Egyptian ceasefire initiative as the “only way to stop attacks”. It also called on foreign powers to accept the initiative “without delay or preconditions” to “prevent the continuation of the vicious circle of violence for which only the innocent Palestinian pay the price.”
The Egyptian government also called on the international community to “shoulder its responsibilities” in confronting the “dangerous escalation” and work on delivering humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday evening its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Egypt’s ceasefire initiative was announced last Monday. Hamas rejected the initiative, stating that the Egyptian government had not directly approached it while Israel accepted Egypt’s proposal before recanting it in light of Hamas’ rejection.
