Palestinians mourn their relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in front of the morgue at the hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. AP
Egypt stressed that Israeli practices in the Gaza Strip constitute a clear violation of the rules of international and international humanitarian law and contravene Israel’s responsibilities as the occupying power under Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions.
Furthermore, Egypt demanded Israel to immediately cease bombarding and targeting Palestinian civilians and stop turning the Gaza Strip into an unviable, unsafe, and unstable area for Palestinians.
The ministry's statement came in response to remarks by Israel's Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, on encouraging Palestinians in Gaza to migrate outside the Strip voluntarily.
Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza on 7 October, Egypt has repeatedly rejected any forced displacement of Palestinians.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has affirmed on multiple occasions Egypt's categorical rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians to any location inside or outside their land.
Last week, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry reaffirmed in a call with UN Secrteary-Genereal António Guterres Egypt's categorical rejection of attempts to displace Palestinians inside or outside their territories forcibly.
In November, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated Egypt categorically rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Sinai.
Since 7 October, Israeli airstrikes and bombardment have killed more than 18,600 and wounded more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are women and children, in one of the most deadly bombing campaigns of civilian targets since WWII.
Israeli airstrikes have also destroyed 61 percent of all residential buildings in the strip, displacing nearly 2 million of Gaza's 2.4 million Palestinians.
Moreover, Israel has carried out intensive and indiscriminate bombardment on the civilian population in the northern parts of Gaza, thus pushing the civilian population towards the south of the strip.
In the last two weeks, Israel has intensified its bombardment of various major population centres around Khan Younis in the southern part of the strip, issuing warnings to residents to move further south to Rafah near the border with Egypt or else.
An all-out Israeli blockade on the entry of water, food, and fuel to the strip has left the civilian population on the verge of starvation.
For weeks now, Egypt has called on the international community to pressure Israel to open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza permanently to allow for the uninterrupted entry of humanitarian aid to the strip.
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