Egypt calls on Hamas and Israel to show “flexibility” in order to achieve “as quickly as possible” a truce in the fighting in Gaza combined with the release of hostages, according to a statement from its Foreign Ministry .
During a telephone interview with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Choukri stressed “the importance of urging the parties to demonstrate flexibility and to deploy all necessary efforts to achieve a truce agreement and thus put an end to the humanitarian tragedy” in Gaza, the ministry said.
Egypt believes that the negotiations in Cairo, which failed this week to result in a truce agreement, are currently in “a delicate phase” while the delegations of Hamas and Israel have left the Egyptian capital, underlines the press release.
Cairo also fears that “the dangers” of an Israeli operation in Rafah, a Gazan town located on its border, threatens the “stability and security” of the region, continues Egyptian diplomacy.
During this exchange, Antony Blinken reaffirmed the United States’ opposition to “a major military operation in Rafah” and “any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza,” declared his spokesperson, Matthew Miller.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army deployed tanks into Rafah and took control of the border crossing with Egypt, blocking the main gateway for humanitarian aid convoys to the besieged Palestinian territory.
