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Egypt calls on Israel to ensure aid reaches Gaza through Rafah Crossing

June 11, 2024 at 10:08 am

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on April 11, 2023 [Costas Baltas/Anadolu Agency]

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry yesterday called on Israel to ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing.

Speaking at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, Shoukry expressed his “pleasure to represent Egypt for the first time as a member state in the group.” Cairo officially joined BRICS at the start of the year.

BRICS is a bloc founded in 2006 and includes China, Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa, before Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE joined it in early 2024.

He explained that “the recent expansion of the BRICS group has strengthened its ability to represent developing countries at this critical time.”

Regarding developments in Gaza, Shoukry condemned “the indiscriminate Israeli military operations that led to an unprecedented loss of innocent lives, widespread destruction and instability in the region,” according to the statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He stressed “Egypt’s position calling for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, for Israel to stop violating international humanitarian law, and ensure the protection of civilians,” and “the urgent need for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza without restrictions.”

Shoukry warned of “the dire consequences of the Israeli military aggression against Palestinian Rafah.”

He called on Israel to “provide favourable conditions for immediate, safe and unobstructed access to humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing.”

Israel took control of the Rafah Crossing on 7 May, and has closed it to humanitarian aid trucks since, further tightening the siege and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.

READ: 52 aid trucks enter Gaza via Karm Abu Salem Crossing: Egypt media