The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar stressed the importance of dealing seriously and positively with US President Joe Biden’s proposal, to agree on a deal that guarantees a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and the adequate delivery of aid to all parts of the Strip.
A statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the ministers of the five countries discussed during a virtual meeting developments in mediation efforts and discussed the proposal recently presented by Biden.
The ministers stressed, according to the statement, “the necessity of stopping the aggression against Gaza and ending the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing, the return of the displaced to their areas, the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and the launch of a reconstruction process within the framework of a comprehensive plan to implement the two-state solution.”
In the same context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that his top priority in Gaza is to eliminate the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), adding that this goal will continue alongside the goal of restoring detainees and that both goals are present in a plan to end the war that was approved at the highest level of his government.
Meanwhile, a high-level Egyptian source has denied reports by Israeli public broadcaster Kan that Egypt is planning to build a high-tech underground wall to block tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The alleged wall would be centred on the Philadelphia Corridor, equipped with technological means, and would extend underground to prevent and thwart the digging of tunnels.
Also on Monday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the Israeli occupation committed 4 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, including 40 deaths and 150 injuries during the past 24 hours, indicating that the toll of the Israeli aggression has risen to 36,479 deaths and 82,777 injuries since October 7.
In response to the Israeli attacks against civilians, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, announced that it had bombed the occupation forces and vehicles penetrating the Palestinian-Egyptian border west of Rafah, noting that they had achieved direct casualties.
Moreover, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement, said, “In conjunction with the Al-Quds Brigades, we bombed a position of enemy soldiers and vehicles in the Netzarim axis, south of Gaza City, with a barrage of heavy-calibre mortar shells.”
At the same time, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced that it had targeted an Israeli force holed up in a house in Gaza City with a missile, leaving its members dead and wounded. Al-Qassam reported that an explosives-laden house had been blown up by an Israeli foot force east of the Al-Shoka area in Rafah, leaving its members dead and wounded.
For its part, the Israeli army admitted that 14 soldiers were injured in the battles in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. The occupation army said in a statement that 3,703 officers and soldiers had been injured since the beginning of the war, including 1,878 during the ground operation.
It added that 254 officers and soldiers are still undergoing medical treatment after being injured in the Gaza battles, of whom 32 suffered serious injuries.
