Shoukry made his statement on Sunday during a meeting with the US Special Envoy for Humanitarian Issues in the Middle East David Satterfield, and in a separate phone call with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

On Friday, the UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza that would end the Israeli aggression on the strip.

The truce, Shoukry told Satterfield, would spare civilians the “further scourge of escalation under fallacious justifications in the name of the right to self-defence or resisting terrorism,” read a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry.

Shoukry highlighted the unprecedented scale of the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.

The top Egyptian diplomat also urged combined international efforts to remove the obstacles placed by Israel hindering the sustainable delivery of aid to Palestinians through the Rafah border crossing.

Aid delivery is only one part of the efforts needed to address the deteriorating situation in Gaza, Shoukry asserted, adding that Israel should not expand its ground operations inside the strip.

He also warned of the severe humanitarian and security fallout from continued escalation, saying they “would expand the cycle of violence and threaten security and peace in the region,” Shoukry added.

For his part, Satterfield said Egypt plays “an integral role” in facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

In the phone call with Türk, Shoukry called on the international community and relevant UN bodies to assume their responsibility to alleviate the suffering endured by the Palestinians.