Egypt is seeking to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, increase entry of aid, and allow for the displaced in the south of the enclave to move to the north, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Friday.
Sisi, speaking in a recorded message, also warned against the danger of an Israeli incursion into the border city of Rafah.
Residents said Israeli aerial and ground bombardments persisted overnight across the enclave, including in Rafah in the south, where over a million displaced people are sheltering.
Efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have so far failed. While Israel said it sought a deal that would secure the release of hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinians held by Israel, Hamas insists an agreement should end the war.
Egypt’s top diplomat made an emotional appeal Thursday for an urgent increase in humanitarian aid going into Gaza by land, even as an aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food was on its way to the enclave, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are on the brink of starvation.
The push to get food in by sea — along with a recent campaign of airdrops into isolated northern Gaza — highlighted the international community’s frustration with the growing humanitarian crisis and with Israel's restrictions that have prevented more aid getting in by land.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said people in the devastated territory cannot wait until a US planned temporary port to be built for sea shipments.
Shoukry spoke in Cairo during a joint press conference with his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares, who also met with Sisi.
