Egypt: Sisi Labels Palestinian Displacement from Gaza as ‘Red Line’

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian presidency)
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian presidency)
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Egypt: Sisi Labels Palestinian Displacement from Gaza as ‘Red Line’

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian presidency)
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian presidency)

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has reiterated his country’s rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt labeling it as “a red line.”

"We strongly oppose the relocation of Palestinians to Egypt or Jordan," said Sisi, stressing that the deportation of Palestinians is a red line for Egypt, and it will not be permitted.

“I say to all Egyptians and people worldwide that the Rafah crossing has never been closed and will never be closed to aid entering the Gaza Strip," he said.

These remarks were made during a speech the Egyptian president delivered before thousands of Egyptians at an event in support of Palestine held at Cairo International Stadium.

Following Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on Israel on Oct. 7, Egypt has warned several times of pushing the Gazans to leave their land toward Sinai.

The Egyptian president added that the Palestinian cause faces a dangerous and sensitive phase amid an unpredictable and inhumane escalation. This escalation adopts collective punishment and commits massacres as a means to impose a reality on the ground, leading to the deportation of the people, and the seizure of land, he added.

"Nearly 12,000 tons of relief aid, transported by 1,300 trucks, were transferred to Gaza via Rafah crossing," said Sisi. The state contributed 8,400 tons, accounting for 70 percent of the total aid.

On Thursday, the National Alliance for Civil Development Work announced that a new aid convoy of more than 500 trucks was on its way to Palestine.

Sisi recounted Egypt’s efforts to prevent the escalation of this war on all levels.

He said that on the political level, Egypt held the first international summit in Cairo, in which several countries convened to secure international approval for ending this conflict and ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Last month, the New Administrative Capital hosted the Cairo Peace Summit during which Sisi declared that eliminating the Palestinian cause without a just solution would never happen at the expense of Egypt.

Moreover, the Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh called for breaking the siege and ensuring the immediate flow of aid to the Strip.

The president further stressed the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and a just and comprehensive peace agreement, adding that through the joint efforts of Egypt, the US, and Qatar, Hamas and Israel reached a humanitarian truce for four days, which could be extended.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.