Denouncing the policies of genocide and the systematic starving of the Palestinian people in Gaza carried out by Israel as part of its war on the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called on the international community this week to put more pressure on Israel to accept the recently reached ceasefire proposal.
Addressing attendees at an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Abdelatty said that Tel Aviv’s “continuous systematic violations” and “genocide” in Gaza shows that it seeks “to force the Palestinians into accepting displacement as a prelude to the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, which Egypt categorically rejects.”
Abdelatty emphasised that Cairo holds Tel Aviv responsible for the continuation of the war and its disregard for efforts to reach a ceasefire, a clear reference to Israel’s rejection of the most recent ceasefire proposal soon after Hamas announced its approval of it.
The proposal, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, would have led to a deal for the exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian detainees, a ceasefire, and the immediate and effective flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The war on Gaza has left more than 62,700 Palestinians dead since October 2023. It has also devastated the Strip, which is facing severe famine.
In his comments at the Jeddah meeting Abdelatty also denounced Israel’s continued violations in the Occupied West Bank, including its announcement of plans to construct 3,400 new housing units, a step that targets dividing the northern and southern parts of the West Bank from each other and dashing any possibility for establishing a Palestinian state.
He re-emphasised Egypt’s rejection of Israel’s recent talk of a so-called “Greater Israel” and underlined that Egypt supports the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights and their pursuit of an independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Abdelatty also welcomed recent pledges by several countries to recognise a state of Palestine and called on other countries to follow suit.
The same principles were emphasised by the foreign ministers of other member states of the OIC during their meetings with Abdelatty on the sidelines of the Jeddah meeting.
Perhaps the most important were those with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts, as these reflect the growing importance that Turkey and Iran are playing in addressing challenges in the region.
Abdelatty and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi stressed the need for the Islamic countries to take urgent and effective action to halt the genocide in Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The two men also reviewed the bilateral communications held in recent months between their two countries and expressed their hopes of continuing consultations and coordination on bilateral as well as regional issues.
In addition, Abdelatty and Araghchi tackled recent efforts to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Iran and create conditions for resuming negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.
The Iranian Foreign Minister also briefed his Egyptian counterpart on the latest developments regarding the nuclear negotiations with France, Britain, and Germany. The second round of these was held in Geneva this week.
Abdelatty held separate talks with Araghchi and Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on this issue.
There has been an increasing number of bilateral meetings between Egyptian and Iranian officials, but full relations have not yet been resumed.
“The noticeable surge in the number of visits to the two countries has not yet been translated into tangible steps, like joint initiatives to face the situation in Gaza or other issues of common interest,” said one diplomat who preferred to remain anonymous.
“The lack of normal diplomatic relations with Tehran is likely to present an obstacle in any mediation efforts regarding Iran’s nuclear programme,” he added.
Equally important was Abdelatty’s meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, during which the two men denounced the present Israeli practices in Gaza and rejected its policies of starvation and systematic violence as flagrant violations of international law.
On the bilateral level, the two ministers welcomed the growing momentum in bilateral relations between Egypt and Turkey, which entered their 100th year in 2025.
They agreed to build on the outcomes of recent high-level meetings, including the inaugural session of the joint High-Level Strategic Council in Istanbul in 2024 and Fidan’s visit to Egypt early this month. Abdelatty also visited Turkey in June.
The two countries are working towards the joint goal of raising bilateral trade to $15 billion within five years.
Abdelatty and Fidan also exchanged views on other regional issues, including the situations in Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa.
In a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, both Abdelatty and Al-Saud called for an immediate end to Israel’s war on Gaza and urged stronger international pressure to secure a ceasefire and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The same calls were reiterated during Abdelatty’s meetings with the Kuwaiti, Iraqi, and Pakistani Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the OIC meeting.
The extraordinary session of the OIC in Jeddah was convened to address Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and its ethnic cleansing in the Occupied West Bank.
The OIC, established in 1969, is the world’s second-largest intergovernmental organisation after the UN, with 57 member states from the Arab and Islamic World. Its headquarters is in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
While Gaza was the main issue of the OIC meeting, Abdelatty also discussed other pressing regional issues during his meeting with Algerian and Tunisian Foreign Ministers Ahmed Attaf and Mohamed Ali Nafti.
The three men tackled the situation in Libya, highlighting their rejection of foreign interference there and calling for the withdrawal of mercenaries and external forces from the country.
They also expressed their support for a political settlement that preserves the country’s unity and stability.
Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia are members of the tripartite mechanism that aims to coordinate support for a political solution in Libya.
Egypt has provided 70 per cent of the aid that has entered Gaza, Abdelatty told the OIC meeting. However, more than 5,000 trucks remain stranded on the Egyptian side of the border due to Israeli restrictions at a time when the Strip needs at least 700 daily to meet the basic needs of the territory’s 2.4 million population.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 28 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: