CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, whose country is a key mediator in efforts to end the Gaza war, said on Saturday that describing the displacement of Palestinians as voluntary was "nonsense". Israel earlier called on Gaza City residents to leave for the south, as its forces advance deeper into the enclave’s largest urban area. "If there is a manmade famine (in Gaza), it is to push residents out of their land. It is nonsense to say that this is voluntary displacement," Abdelatty said in a joint press conference with the Commissioner-General of the UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has supported the idea that Palestinians in Gaza should be allowed to voluntarily leave and suggested that other countries should accept them. Netanyahu's office said on Friday that he had spoken about the basic human right of every individual to choose where they live, particularly during times of war.
The Egyptian minister also said he spoke with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday and discussed intensifying efforts to implement the latest ceasefire proposal. He blamed Israel for what he described as its intransigence over the delay in reaching a ceasefire. Hamas agreed in August to a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel that included the return of half the hostages held in Gaza and Israel's release of some Palestinian prisoners.
An Egyptian official source said the proposal accepted by Hamas included a suspension of Israeli military operations for 60 days and outlined a framework for a comprehensive deal to end the nearly two-year-old conflict. Netanyahu said days later that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all hostages held in Gaza and an end to the war, but on terms acceptable to Israel.
Egypt said on Friday it would not tolerate mass displacement of Palestinians and what it described as genocide, continuing to ratchet up its criticism of Israel's Gaza offensive as thousands of residents of Gaza City defied Israeli orders to leave. "Displacement is not an option and it is a red line for Egypt and we will not allow it to happen," Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters in Nicosia. "Displacement means liquidation and the end of the Palestinian cause and there is no legal or moral or ethical ground to evict people from their homeland," he said.
His comments are in line with a hardening of Egyptian language this year about Israel's conduct in the enclave, which borders Egypt, even as it has worked with Qatar and the US to try to mediate a ceasefire in the almost two-year-old war. Repeating accusations of genocide levelled by the Egyptian leadership against Israel in recent months, he added: "What is happening on the ground is far beyond imagination. There is a genocide in motion there, mass killing of civilians, artificial starvation created by the Israelis," Abdelatty said. — Reuters
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