US House members call on Egypt to 'establish safe zones' for Gazans

A bipartisan group of US House members plans to urge Egypt to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza from Israel’s bombardment of the besieged enclave, Axios reported today.

This came in a letter to the Egyptian Ambassador to the US, Motaz Zahran, calling for Cairo to “urgently work” with the US, Israel and other countries to “establish and maintain safe zones in southern Gaza.”The safe zones, they wrote, should include “humanitarian access corridors, for civilians seeking refuge from the fighting in the north of the Strip.””Egypt is a major global player and a consistent security partner to the United States. We urge Egypt to recognize its humanitarian responsibility to protect innocent life,” they added.

The letter stressed Israel’s “well-established right and responsibility to respond to” the Palestinian resistance’s unexpected infiltration of Israeli towns around Gaza. “We unequivocally support Israel as it defends itself and takes necessary measures in support of its national security,” the House members explained.

For the past 11 days Israel has pummelled Gaza, dropping more than 6,000 bombs on the enclave killing thousands and destroying infrastructure and civilian homes, often over residents’ heads. It has called for Palestinians in Gaza to be sent to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, where it said it would “help set up tent cities” for them to live in.

READ: Egypt’s prepares hospitals in Sinai in receive Gaza’s wounded 

However, this has been viewed as a second Nakba, mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and land to make way for the expansion of the Zionist state of Israel.

Egypt has so far refused to open the Rafah crossing to allow foreign nationals out of Gaza, saying it will only do so if aid is allowed into the Strip in return. Israel shut off water, fuel and food supplies to the 2.3 million Palestinian in Gaza over a week ago and supplies have all but run out. Only hospitals and emergency vehicles now have fuel and residents report having less than 500ml of water to drink a day, much of it dirty water from contaminated wells, leading to fears that waterborne diseases will soon begin to spread.