Egypt denies that a list is being prepared of those wishing to leave Gaza

The Egyptian foreign ministry denied yesterday that arrangements are being made with the US to prepare lists of names of patients and students wishing to leave the Gaza Strip. Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid made the denial in a post on X, in light of the continued closure of the Rafah Crossing since the Israeli army took control of the Palestinian side on 7 May.

Abu Zeid said that the claim circulating on social media about a phone call between the foreign ministers of Egypt and the US regarding such an issue is “completely unfounded”. He insisted that, “No contact took place, and it is not true that any arrangements of this kind exist.”

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was the only outlet for Palestinian patients and students before it was closed by the Israeli attack on the city of Rafah, which is crowded with displaced Palestinians.

Earlier on Monday, Al-Qahera news channel quoted an unnamed high-ranking source as saying, “Egypt reiterates its rejection of any operation of the Rafah crossing in the presence of the Israeli occupation.”

The government media office in the Gaza Strip has accused the Israeli army of “not allowing aid to enter the Gaza Strip except in a very limited manner since its occupation of the Rafah crossing.”

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, also noted on Monday that getting humanitarian aid into Gaza has become almost impossible amid international warnings of a famine by mid-July.

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