Egypt affirmed that any Israeli move to occupy the Philadelphia axis would lead to a serious and serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations, noting that “the true essence of Israel’s claims is to justify its continuation of the process of collective punishment, killing, and starvation in Gaza.”

Cairo affirmed that any Israeli move to occupy the Philadelphia axis would lead to a serious and serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations, stressing that the recent period had witnessed several statements by Israeli officials, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “containing false allegations and claims about the existence of smuggling operations.” Weapons, explosives, ammunition and their components are transferred to the Gaza Strip from Egyptian territory in several ways.

This came according to what the head of the Egyptian State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, said in a statement reported by the Egyptian News Agency.

Rashwan added, “What clarifies and confirms the falsehood of these allegations is that all countries of the world know very well the extent of the efforts that Egypt has made in the last 10 years to achieve security and stability in Sinai and enhance security on the border between the Egyptian Rafah and the Gaza Strip, where Egypt itself has suffered greatly.” From these tunnels during the fierce confrontation with terrorist groups in Sinai following the overthrow of the Brotherhood regime in June 2013 and until 2020, they represented a means for smuggling fighters and weapons into Sinai to carry out terrorist operations that claimed the lives of more than 3,000 martyrs from the army, police, and civilians, and more than 13,000 injured.

He explained, “This situation prompted the Egyptian administration to take broader steps to eliminate these tunnels once and for all. A 5-kilometre-long buffer zone was created from the Egyptian city of Rafah to the border with Gaza, and more than 1,500 tunnels were destroyed. Egypt also strengthened the border wall with the Gaza Strip.” It extends for 14 kilometers, by strengthening it with a concrete wall 6 meters long above the ground and 6 meters underground, so that there are three barriers between Sinai and Palestinian Rafah, with which any smuggling operation is impossible, neither above ground nor underground, and that Egypt has full sovereignty over its land and is in control. Completely on its entire northeastern border, whether with the Gaza Strip or with Israel.

He expressed his surprise that “Israel would speak in this undocumented manner about allegations of arms smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. It is the country that militarily controls the Gaza Strip and possesses the most modern and accurate means of reconnaissance and monitoring. Its forces, settlements, and naval forces surround the small Gaza Strip from three sides, and are satisfied with the accusations sent to Egypt without… “No evidence of it.”

He said, “Any claim that smuggling operations are carried out through trucks carrying aid and goods to the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing is an empty and ridiculous statement, because any truck entering the Gaza Strip from this crossing must first pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is affiliated with… The Israeli authorities inspect all trucks entering the Gaza Strip. Also, the person receiving this aid is the Palestinian Red Crescent and United Nations relief organizations such as UNRWA, which adds further evidence of the falsehood of the Israeli allegations.”

He stressed that “the true essence of Israel’s claims is to justify its continuation of the process of collective punishment, killing and starvation of more than 2 million Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip, which it has practiced for 17 years.”

He stated that “Israel’s persistence in marketing these lies is an attempt to create legitimacy for its attempt to occupy the Philadelphia Corridor or the Salah al-Din Corridor, in the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, in violation of the security agreements and protocols signed between it and Egypt, stressing that any Israeli move in this direction… It will lead to a serious and serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations. Egypt, in addition to being a country that respects its international obligations, is able to defend its interests and sovereignty over its land and borders, and will not mortgage it in the hands of a group of extremist Israeli leaders who seek to drag the region into a state of conflict and instability. This Egyptian red line joins the previous one, which Egypt has repeatedly declared, which is the categorical rejection of forcibly or voluntarily displacing our Palestinian brothers to Sinai, which it will not allow Israel to cross. Egypt was the initiative and made an agreement with Israel in 2005 and 2021, to increase the size of its forces and capabilities. Border guards in this border area in order to secure the northeastern strategic direction, and out of respect for the peace treaty with Israel, and so that the latter does not take any unilateral step.”

He pointed out that “the Israeli government must conduct serious investigations within its army, state agencies, and sectors of society, to search for those truly involved in smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip, including those among them, for the purpose of profit. Many of the weapons currently inside the Strip are the result of smuggling from within Israel, for example M16 rifles and other types of weapons.” Of the RPG, as well as dual-use materials in the military manufacturing of the military wings in the Gaza Strip, and here it is sufficient to review what the Israeli media publishes about the investigations conducted with members of the Israeli army, against the backdrop of the disappearance of weapons or their sale in the West Bank and from there they are sent to the Gaza Strip.”

He continued: “Mentioning the West Bank, can Israeli officials, who are spreading lies against Egypt, explain the source of the large quantities of weapons, ammunition and explosives spread in various areas of the West Bank, according to their official statements, in light of the full control of the occupation army over it, and that it does not have any kind of borders? With Egypt, they will then find only the same people involved, from their army, their state agencies, and sectors of their society, in smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip for the purpose of profit.”

He said, “The information shows that most of the heavy weapons smuggling operations into the Gaza Strip take place from across the Mediterranean Sea, where its shores with Gaza are completely controlled by the Israeli naval and air forces, which indicates the same type of people involved in Israel, including its army, its state agencies, and sectors of its society. “In smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip for the purpose of profit.”

He pointed out, “What the Israeli statements ignore, which is what was revealed by the Israeli army’s statements during the current war, especially the video ones, about the seizure of many workshops manufacturing weapons, missiles and explosives inside the tunnels in Gaza, which means that there is a great possibility that it is a large part of the arming of Hamas and the factions.” Palestinian manufacturing locally and not through smuggling.”

He stressed that “these allegations and lies are a continuation of the policy of escaping forward followed by the Israeli government, due to its successive failures in achieving its declared goals for the war on Gaza. It is looking for someone responsible outside of it for these failures, and it also did the same thing recently by accusing Egypt in the International Court of Justice of being the one responsible.” It prevents and impedes the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, despite its full knowledge that Egypt did not close the Rafah crossing on its part, even for a single moment.

He explained that “the policies of successive arbitrary Israeli governments, eliminating any prospects for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue, and encouraging the separation of the Gaza Strip under the leadership of the Hamas movement from the Palestinian Authority, including turning a blind eye to the funding it receives and the stifling siege of the Strip, have led to the current conditions that claim Israel from time to time claims that Egypt is responsible for it, pointing out that these policies, for more than a decade and a half, are part of Netanyahu’s strategy to deepen the Palestinian division and ensure the separation of Gaza from the West Bank to weaken the Palestinian Authority, and to have the justification for refusing to enter into any negotiations on a two-state solution. “.

He added, “The Egyptian people’s full support and solidarity with the Palestinian cause is certain and realistic without the slightest doubt, and is in line with Egypt’s official position on supporting the rights of the Palestinian people in their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the borders of June 4, 1967. But this popular and official solidarity and support for the Palestinian cause is It does not conflict with securing our borders and preventing smuggling to and from it, and that supporting the Palestinian cause has many political paths that bear fruit until the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights, which Egypt has done openly since the beginning of the recent crisis, and before that all the time, in support of the brotherly Palestinian people.” .

He stressed that “there is no doubt that such false allegations do not serve the positive Egyptian efforts made to resolve the crisis in Gaza, which has affected the entire region and made it ripe for expanding the circle of conflict, something that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has warned against and sought repeatedly.”

He also stressed that “these false allegations do not serve the peace treaty that Egypt respects, and calls on the Israeli side to show its respect for it and stop making statements that would strain bilateral relations in light of the current inflammatory conditions,” indicating that Egypt’s demand is from everyone who talks about its failure to protect its borders. To stop these allegations, in light of the fact that it has a strong army capable of protecting its borders with all efficiency and discipline, and Egypt will continue its natural positive role in order to solve all the problems of the region, and these false allegations will not succeed in dissuading Egypt from carrying out its internal, regional and international responsibilities.

Shukri: The “day after” theses after the crisis in Gaza without an immediate cessation of the Israeli aggression remain a theoretical framework.

In a related context, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed on Monday that “any proposals that address the next day after the crisis in Gaza without stipulating an immediate cessation of Israeli hostilities remain within the framework of a theoretical approach to the crisis.”

This came during a meeting between Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, on Monday, in Brussels with the European Union foreign ministers and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, “where an in-depth dialogue took place about the situation in the Gaza Strip, And efforts to contain the worsening humanitarian crisis.”

The official spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Abu Zeid, stated that Minister Shoukry “stressed in his speech during the meeting that a sustainable solution to the current crisis will only be achieved with definitive international support – including the European Union – for implementing the decisions of international legitimacy based on the two-state solution.” According to a specific time frame, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with continuous and viable territories, on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Shukri stressed that “the continuation of the deliberate Israeli targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and the indiscriminate targeting of the infrastructure system in the Strip, is pushing the capabilities of the entire region into risks whose consequences are not calculated, and clearly threatens the foundations of international peace and security,” warning of the repercussions of the international community’s inability to stop this humanitarian crisis that Its daily casualties exceed the death toll in any other conflict during the twenty-first century, and it resulted in the displacement of about 1.9 million Palestinians from their homes inside the Gaza Strip, in serious violation of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law.

Shukry stressed “Egypt’s complete rejection of the principle and attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians outside their country, considering it a red line, and the need for international parties to move away from double standards and call Israeli violations by their correct names without any false justifications that legitimize the shedding of more innocent Palestinian blood.”

Shukri called on the European Union countries to adopt categorical positions towards achieving a comprehensive and immediate ceasefire, and to condemn all violations of international humanitarian law, warning of the potential effects of the crisis on the increase in the spread of extremist and inflammatory thought in the world, as well as the possibility of creating a gap and casting doubt on the credibility of the civilizational values ​​and cultures that… Societies are built on it, which requires a clear European position in line with the values ​​of humanity at the political and humanitarian levels.”