Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the Gaza Strip has been suffering from a brutal blockade for years and that Israel is still pursuing the policy of forced displacement, which is rejected by the world. He said that Israel is not only making statements and calls to expel the Gaza residents from their land but also creating a harsh reality on the ground to liquidate their cause by separating the people from their land and seizing it.
He said that the international community has failed to prevent this, as it has repeatedly failed in the past to confront the violations and illegal practices of Israel, such as beatings, demolitions, and extrajudicial killings, which the international community has been silent about.
Shoukry reaffirmed Egypt’s rejection of any attempts to end the Palestinian issue and displace the Palestinian people from their land and urged the international community to prevent practices that could lead to this. He also pointed out that Egypt has succeeded, in cooperation with Qatar, to activate a prisoner exchange deal, and will continue its efforts to extend the truce and ceasefire.
He stressed that Egypt has demanded from the first day the release of hostages, civilians, and innocent people, but he wondered about the international attitude towards Palestinian prisoners, children, and women, who are subjected to harsh detention conditions without charges or trial. He asked if they were not also hostages of the occupying power.
“Egypt has condemned in the strongest terms the targeting of civilians by any party since the beginning of the crisis, but the destruction in the Gaza Strip has reached an unprecedented level, where the entire health system was targeted and half of the houses were demolished. These are gross and obvious violations of international law and a real tragedy in every sense of the word that cannot be justified under any pretext,” he said.
He added: “We are still surprised that countries that claim to be defenders of human rights and international legitimacy refrain from describing this as a violation of international humanitarian law, and only call for respecting this law.
Minister Shoukry said that Israel’s actions in Gaza cannot be justified by the concept of self-defence, as they violate international humanitarian law.
“Self-defense does not allow the destruction of the lives of the people under occupation, despite our warnings and the warnings of the world countries against targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip. What Israel has been doing for more than 50 days can only be explained by a systematic policy to make life in the Gaza Strip impossible and force the residents of northern Gaza to flee south,” he said.
He said that Egypt is working with its partners in the committee formed by the Arab-Islamic summit to ensure humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, and has submitted a non-politicized project based on saving 2.5 million innocent people in the Gaza Strip. He said that this project has led to a significant increase in the volume of assistance to the Gaza Strip and that Egypt has provided and contributed 70% of it. However, he said that this is not enough.
Shoukry urged the international community not to adopt double standards and leave children homeless in extremely harsh conditions as the winter season approaches.
He said: “We see no alternative to addressing the root causes of the conflict and the real causes of the tragedies we are witnessing today.
“Without that, the results of all our efforts will be temporary and the cycles of violence will be repeated and the security and stability that the region, including Israel itself, seeks will not be achieved,” he stressed.
“We must all agree on the two-state solution, and recognize the Palestinian state by those UN member states who have not done so. I also call on the council to accept Palestine’s full membership,” Minister Shoukry concluded.
