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Sisi Demands Decisive Stance from Int’l Community on Ceasefire in Gaza

Sisi received Sunak in Cairo last month. (EPA)
Sisi received Sunak in Cairo last month. (EPA)
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Sisi Demands Decisive Stance from Int’l Community on Ceasefire in Gaza

Sisi received Sunak in Cairo last month. (EPA)
Sisi received Sunak in Cairo last month. (EPA)

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed on Wednesday the need for the international community to take a decisive stance to earnestly pursue an immediate ceasefire and enforce a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip.

According to Egypt's presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy, al-Sisi received a phone call from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak where the two leaders discussed the recent developments pertaining to the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip.

Sisi underlined that a resolution to the Palestinian issue requires the implementation of a two-state solution, stressing that military solutions pose a threat to the overall security and stability of the region.

He also pointed out that Egypt is making significant efforts to de-escalate the situation and prevent bloodshed and to deliver humanitarian aid to assist the people of Gaza.

Sunak also welcomed the opening of the Rafah crossing to allow British and other foreign nationals and injured Palestinians to leave Gaza, his office said.

The two men also discussed urgent work to increase the humanitarian aid flow to Gaza.

Sunak's office said the two officials "discussed diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, prevent escalation in the wider Middle East, and achieve long-term peace and prosperity for the Palestinian people."

At least 320 foreign passport holders crossed on Wednesday to Egypt from Gaza in the first batch of evacuations from the besieged enclave, Reuters quoted three Egyptian security sources and a Palestinian official as saying.

The Palestinian official on the Gaza side of the border said the foreign passport holders departed the strip on six buses. A first list of about 500 foreigners or dual nationals had been cleared to leave Gaza, with evacuations expected to continue in the days to come.

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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing".

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

"They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son's house, Haitham Ayed's family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family," Abu Diab told AFP.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighborhood, leaving them homeless".

An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighborhood under tight Israeli police supervision.

In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.

However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.

"The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning," the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.

Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was "to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favor of (Israeli) settlers", connecting them to west Jerusalem.

Israel "is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections", he said.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighborhoods within east Jerusalem's boundaries, according to Israeli rights organization Peace Now.