FM Abdelatty said the humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached a catastrophic level despite international appeals to Israel to stop the bloodshed and killing of civilians, Egyptian-Qatari-American mediation efforts, and UNSC resolutions in that regard.

He added that the occupying power continues to take revenge on the people of Gaza, using starvation and siege as a weapon and forcing them to flee their homes.

Furthermore, Abdelatty noted that Israel has occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, preventing UN agencies and relief organizations from distributing aid inside Gaza.

He urged the UNSC to assume its responsibilities and take measures to stop the ongoing war and achieve an immediate, comprehensive, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon to spare the region from slipping into an open regional war.

Moreover, Abdelatty explained that as the occupying power, Israel is primarily responsible for the situation in Gaza and the region and is obligated to implement all UNSC and International Court of Justice resolutions issued since the onset of the war.

“Everyone must reject the flimsy justifications for continuing the current war and the hollow claims repeated by the occupying power about the measures it has taken to mitigate the humanitarian repercussions, which have repeatedly proven to be unreliable,” he added.

Abdelatty pointed out that the cessation of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing was a direct result of Israel's continued military control over the Gaza Strip, including the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.

He said continuing humanitarian work is still possible only if Israel withdraws from the crossing and opens all other crossings around Gaza from the Israeli side.

Moreover, Abdelatty stressed that Egypt will press ahead with mediation efforts to stop the war, ensure sustainable access to humanitarian aid to Gaza, and support Palestinian perseverance in the face of Israeli displacement attempts.

“The Security Council is capable of making a change on the ground if intentions are sincere,” he stressed, calling for obligating Israel to immediately stop its war in Gaza and Lebanon and withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip, including the Rafah crossing and Philadelphi axis, to allow the resumption of urgent humanitarian aid.

Abdelatty also stressed that further steps should include implementing the International Court of Justice resolutions and providing maximum support to the Palestinian Authority to fulfil its duties in Gaza, including returning to the crossings, providing basic services, and assuming administrative and security responsibilities.

In addition, he called on the UNSC to welcome Palestine's full UN membership based on the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem, and compel Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Since 7 October, Israel has killed and injured over 130,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, damaged most of Gaza’s infrastructure, and displaced the majority of the population.

In recent days, Israel has shifted the focus of its attacks from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 700 people and sparked an exodus of around 118,000 people.

The Israeli forces claimed on Saturday that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had been assassinated in the attacks, but the Lebanese group has not confirmed his death.