Egypt, UN Agree on Need for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

Egypt and the UN on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the exchange of captives, and the delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid to relieve those afflicted in the Gaza Strip, where famine besieges entire people, according to Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is currently visiting Cairo.

On Saturday, the UN Chief visited a number of wounded Palestinians receiving treatment in Al Arish General Hospital, in addition to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.

During his visit, Guterres held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at Al-Ittihadiya Palace.

The meeting addressed many international and regional issues, with emphasis on developments in the Gaza Strip. It was attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service Major General Abbas Kamel, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini and UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova.

Presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said views were aligned on the gravity of the situation and the need to avoid fueling factors that could widen the scope of the conflict.

Both sides completely and categorically rejected the displacement of Palestinians from their lands, also rejecting and warning against any military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, given its catastrophic consequences on the already dire situation.

Sisi and Guterres emphasized the inevitability of the two-state solution as the only path to achieve justice, security, and stability in the region, and the need to create conditions conducive for its implementation.

During the meeting, the Egyptian President appreciated the positions of the UN Secretary-General on the ongoing crisis, his keenness to adhere to the principles of international law and international humanitarian law, and his continued activity to urge the international community to act to end the war and protect civilians.

Sisi then stressed that it was important for the Security Council to assume its responsibilities in that regard and emphasized the danger of the suspension of funding by some countries to UNRWA, which is considered collective punishment of innocent Palestinians.

An Egyptian statement said Guterres expressed his great appreciation for Egypt's regional role as a pillar for stability, praising its efforts to advance a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as well as its commitment to keeping the Rafah border crossing open continuously over the past months since the start of the current crisis.

The UN chief referred to his visit to the Rafah crossing on Saturday and praised the huge Egyptian effort for leading and operating the process of delivering aid to the people of Gaza, despite the severe obstacles and difficulties.

He reiterated the importance of a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes to enable the delivery and effective distribution of aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.

Later during a joint press conference with Shoukry, Guterres said that delivering the necessary aid to famine-threatened Gaza “requires Israel removing the remaining obstacles and chokepoints to relief.”

He explained that the only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods to meet Gaza's humanitarian needs is by road and includes an exponential increase in commercial deliveries.

“Sending in large quantities of aid requires Israel to remove the remaining obstacles and choke points to relief,” Guterres said.

He issued a renewed plea for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza from Rafah, where about 1.5 million internally displaced Palestinians reside.

Guterres said the United Nations was working hard to sustain funding for its agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which he called the backbone for humanitarian aid inside Gaza.

Shoukry called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of detainees, stressing the need for more humanitarian aid to be brought into the Gaza Strip. “We have exchanged views with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the ceasefire in Gaza and the introduction of aid,” he said.

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.

Egypt, UN Agree on Need for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza