Hassan Al-Warfalli (Gaza, Cairo)
Yesterday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called for more efforts to reach an agreement in Gaza, saying that he is closely following the positive developments in the ongoing negotiations to reach a comprehensive truce.
He added in a statement: “I am closely following the positive developments taking place in the current negotiations to reach a comprehensive truce in the Gaza Strip, and I call on all parties to make more efforts to reach an agreement that will lead to an end to the human tragedy that the Palestinian people are suffering from and the completion of the replacement of hostages and prisoners.” The Palestinian factions announced yesterday that any Israeli military operation in Rafah would put the negotiations in vain, considering that the steps that Israel is taking in preparation for the ground attack are taking place while evading the obligations of any agreement that ends the war, and without regard to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip or the fate of the prisoners in Gaza. .
There were repeated warnings from Arab and international organizations and UN organizations about the consequences of the Israeli invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, after the Israeli army asked residents of the east of the city to leave it immediately in preparation for a ground operation.
Yesterday, the Israeli army called on civilians and displaced Palestinians to evacuate east of the city of Rafah in preparation for a military operation in that area, while the army spokesman announced the start of a plan to evacuate Palestinian residents and displaced people from areas east of Rafah to Khan Yunis. Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said, in a post on the “X” platform, that residents of eastern Rafah should immediately go to an “expanded humanitarian area” in the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis, referring to a military operation in eastern Rafah.
A faction source revealed approval of the truce and prisoner exchange agreement, after receiving American guarantees that it would lead to a ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza at the end of the third and final phase. The source added that the factions’ delegation went to Cairo with approval, but Netanyahu’s statements raised his doubts and made him ask for adequate guarantees from the mediators, which he obtained.
An Israeli official said that the ceasefire proposal is a watered-down version of an Egyptian proposal, which includes far-reaching conclusions that Israel cannot accept.
The Palestinian presidency announced that it is conducting intensive contacts with regional and international parties, especially the American ones, to stop the Israeli army’s invasion of the city of Rafah.
The Palestinian presidency said in a statement: “We call on the American administration to intervene immediately to prevent this massacre, of which we warn of its dangerous repercussions,” according to the official Palestinian News Agency (Wafa).
In turn, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Kingdom warned Israel of the consequences of targeting Rafah “as part of its bloody, systematic campaign” to storm all areas of the Gaza Strip and displace its residents.
Egypt warned of “severe humanitarian risks” threatening more than a million Palestinians as a result of a possible Israeli operation in the Palestinian city of Rafah, adjacent to Egypt’s borders.
A high-ranking Egyptian source confirmed yesterday that the Rafah crossing is operating normally and the movement of aid into the Gaza Strip is continuing.
In addition, Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesman for the Palestinian Refugee Relief Agency “UNRWA” in Gaza, told Al-Ittihad that the difficulties in the city of Rafah exceed the limits of description, where one and a half million people have lived, most of them displaced, since the beginning of the war, stressing that “ UNRWA is striving to continue providing services from Rafah as much as possible, but the challenges are increasing day by day, and it is feared that the humanitarian situation in general in the Gaza Strip will deteriorate. In a press statement, UNICEF warned that “there is no safe shelter for Rafah’s 600,000 children. If large-scale military operations take place, the children will not only be threatened with violence, but also with chaos and panic at a time when their physical and mental condition is weakening. They are threatened.” “With an imminent catastrophe.”
The White House announced that US President Joe Biden confirmed his clear position to the Israeli Prime Minister regarding the evacuation of Rafah.
Deep anxiety
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “deeply concerned” about the possibility of a military incursion into Rafah, calling on all parties to accept an agreement that leads to a truce and the release of Israeli hostages.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that forcibly displacing more than a million displaced Palestinians from the city of Rafah is a war crime.
It stressed France’s strong opposition to the Israeli attack on Rafah, and the need for full and immediate access to humanitarian aid.
In turn, Germany warned of a potential humanitarian tragedy as a result of launching a large ground operation on Rafah, noting that there are more than a million people in need of protection and humanitarian support.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, considered the Rafah evacuation order inhumane and inconsistent with the basic principles of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
#Egypt #Positive #developments #comprehensive #truce #negotiations #Gaza