“Egypt has maintained the highest levels of self-restraint since the beginning of the war on Gaza, hoping to achieve calm and prevent the region from entering a vicious cycle of conflict,” the source told the Egyptian news outlet.

The source emphasised that Egypt's stance on the Palestinian issue is “firm, clear, and unquestionable.”

In a recent interview with TIME magazine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the higher number of casualties in Gaza is due to the strip being "locked" and people "cannot go into the Sinai." 

He alleged: "If they could... Israel would not have to take the action that it takes."

However, Israel has closed its six crossings with Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli war on 7 October 2023, turning a blind eye to international and regional calls to reopen these crossing points as Gaza residents face near famine-like conditions.

Furthermore, Israel took over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in early May, preventing a single aid truck from entering to Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

Egypt has been leading efforts since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza to deliver aid to civilians who are facing near-starvation conditions due to an Israeli blockade on the strip.

The Egyptian source also dismissed Israel's claims about the existence of tunnels within Egyptian territory as "entirely false."

Since the war erupted, Israel has killed nearly 40,000 people, mostly children and women, injured over 90,000, caused extensive damage to Gaza's infrastructure, and displaced most of the strip’s 2,3 million population.

On Friday, the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the United States called in a joint statement on the Israeli government and Hamas, to resume the ceasefire talks next Thursday whether in Cairo or Doha to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.