Egypt reiterated Tuesday its absolute rejection of the Palestinians’ “forced displacement” from the Gaza Strip to the country’s Sinai Peninsula, which borders the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
Speaking at a parliament session, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also expressed Egypt’s “complete rejection of liquidating the Palestinian issue without a just solution,” stressing that “in any case, it (the solution) will never happen at Egypt’s expense.”
“Egypt will not hesitate to use all measures to safeguard its borders in the event of any scenario regarding the displacement of Palestinians into Egyptian territories,” he was quoted by a cabinet statement as saying.
Madbouly stressed that “failure to immediately stop the brutal military operations in the Gaza Strip will contribute to undermining the security and stability of the entire region and drag the region into more tensions.”
“Egypt’s position is consistent in respecting the peace treaty with Israel, and in return, it looks forward to such a position from Israel, especially with regard to Israel’s current actions in the Gaza Strip and the indirect threat they may pose to Egypt,” he added.
The minister said Egypt has not closed the Rafah border crossing, its sole crossing point with Gaza, since the beginning of the crisis, noting that Egypt had sent more than 11,200 tons of aid to Gaza as of Nov. 19, while other 30 donating countries had provided 3,000 tons combined.
Madbouly reiterated Egypt’s vision of a peaceful permanent settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“There is no way to solve the Palestinian issue except through the two-state solution, in a just and comprehensive manner that guarantees security and stability in the Middle East, through the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” said the Egyptian prime minister.
The Rafah crossing between Egypt’s North Sinai and Gaza has been the only lifeline for Gazans, via which tons of humanitarian aid supplies have been transported into the besieged enclave since Oct. 21.
Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has for years been a key regional peacemaker in the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Source: Xinhua
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