During his speech at the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus” summit, Madbouly explained that “the Israeli war is no longer a war to achieve political objectives or to release hostages but has become a war of starvation.” He pointed out that “Egypt condemns in the strongest terms Israel’s expansion of its military operations in Gaza.” He added that “Egypt rejects and condemns Israeli attempts to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable in an attempt to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” continuing, “We condemn Israeli practices and violations in the West Bank, settler violence, and settlement activities.” He noted the intensive Egyptian efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, emphasizing the need for Israel to accept the current proposal for a temporary ceasefire, during which negotiations on ending the war and reconstruction would take place.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Qatar stressed that in the Gaza Strip, despite Israel’s rejection of the mediators’ proposal. They affirmed their countries’ rejection of Israeli attempts to displace Palestinians, considering it an unacceptable “red line,” and the ministers emphasized “preventing the use of starvation as a weapon and continuing pressure to ensure full and unconditional access to humanitarian aid,” noting that “using aid as a weapon for starvation and collective punishment is a dangerous precedent.”
Israel resumed its bombing of the Gaza Strip on March 18, after a cessation of nearly two months, specifically since the ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect on January 19, following stalled negotiations to extend the first phase of the agreement or move to its second phase. The ceasefire agreement between Israel was supposed to continue upon the extension of its first phase, which ended on March 1, or entering its second phase, but disagreements between Israel and Hamas over the next steps prevented that.
In turn, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed Moscow’s concern over the escalation in the Gaza Strip and the resulting civilian casualties, confirming that Moscow is closely monitoring the situation and looking forward to returning to the path of peace.
