Israel has not asked Palestinians to relocate into Sinai, Israel’s ambassador to Cairo, Amira Oron assured on Tuesday.
In a post on the embassy’s official Facebook page, Oron wrote: “Israel is committed to the peace treaty with Egypt, in which the borders between the two countries were clearly defined.”
“Sinai is Egyptian territory, where the Egyptian army has fought terrorism during the past ten years, which has become possible to a large extent thanks to cooperation, agreements and coordination with the State of Israel. This indicates, in practice, Israel’s commitment and full awareness of the borders between Israel and Egypt,” CNN Arabic quoted Oron as saying.
The Israeli army’s spokesperson for the Arab media, Avichay Adraee on Tuesday also confirmed that the Israeli army has not officially invited residents of the Gaza Strip to head into Egyptian territory.
“In recent days, the IDF has been carrying out a campaign to evacuate the civilian population from areas witnessing a military presence of Hamas and other terrorist organizations,” Adraee said on his X (formerly Twitter) page.
“The population is being directed to areas and shelters within the borders of the Gaza Strip,” he added.
“We confirm that there is no official Israeli call to direct the residents of the Gaza Strip towards Egyptian territory,” Adraee concluded.
“Just to be clear. I was asked about exit from Gaza. I said they should check if Rafah is possibly open. And that I’m not aware if its still open. The IDF is not in charge of that crossing,” the international spokesperson for the IDF, Richard Hecht wrote on X.
Egypt remains committed to peace
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi described the current escalation between the Israelis and Palestinians as “extremely dangerous and has repercussions that may affect the security and stability of the entire region,” warning that Egypt would not allow “the issue to be settled at the expense of other parties.”
Sisi added in statements published by Al-Ahram newspaper on Tuesday that, “Egypt is conducting intensive contacts at all levels to stop the military confrontations between Israel and the Palestinians, to spare the blood of the Palestinian people and protect civilians on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.”
“Egypt will not abandon its commitments to Arab causes, especially the Palestinian cause,” Sisi said, expressing his hope to “resolve and settle the Palestinian issue through negotiations that lead to a just peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Sisi stressed that “Egypt’s national security is his primary responsibility and that it should not be neglected under any circumstances.”
Al-Ahram reported that Sisi has ordered sending a huge humanitarian, food and medical aid convoy to the Gaza Strip.
