‘Ball now in Israel's court' after Hamas approval of Gaza truce proposal: Egypt FM Abdelatty - Foreign Affairs
Minister Abdelatty made these remarks during separate phone calls with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh.
The calls were part of Egypt's intensified diplomatic outreach to support ceasefire efforts in Gaza, according to a foreign ministry statement.
During the phone calls, Abdelatty highlighted the progress made in recent ceasefire talks held in Cairo with the Palestinian delegation.
He added that this round focused on a proposal from US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, according to the statement.
Egypt's top diplomat called for increased international pressure on Israel to accept the ceasefire proposal to help alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
He also outlined preparations for the Gaza reconstruction conference, which Egypt intends to host immediately upon a ceasefire being declared.
In response, the foreign officials praised Egypt's central mediating role alongside Qatar and the US, affirming their full support for Egypt's efforts to promote regional security and stability.
Multiple rounds of indirect negotiations – mediated by Egypt and Qatar throughout the two-year Israeli war in Gaza – have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire amid the insistence by Israel, backed by Washington, on continuing the war.
On 19 March, Israel unilaterally ended a truce agreement, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US in January, to resume its war on the strip.
Tel Aviv and Washington backed off from ceasefire talks in July, claiming that Hamas was not negotiating in good faith.
The new ceasefire plan, accepted by Hamas after fresh talks in Cairo, proposes an initial 60-day truce, a partial release of captives, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners, and provisions for the entry of humanitarian aid.
The new proposal also counters a recent Israeli plan to occupy all of Gaza City and ethnically cleanse nearly one million Palestinians to the south of the strip.
On Monday, speaking in a joint press conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa during their visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, FM Abdelatty reiterated Cairo's condemnation of the war and blockade on the Gaza Strip.
'The Israelis are physically there, preventing any truck or person from moving in. Israel is the main country blocking and putting restrictions on the flow of humanitarian and medical aid,' he said.
Abdelatty also warned against attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians through Rafah, describing displacement as a 'red line.'
He said: 'There is no moral, ethical, legal, or political justification for displacement. Those people are attached to their homeland. Displacement is a one-way ticket… it means only one objective: the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.'
Hamas's acceptance of the proposal comes amid growing regional and international condemnation of the Israeli war on Gaza and its starvation policies against 2.3 million people in the strip.
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, while starvation-related deaths in the strip have risen to 263, including 112 children.
The Palestinian group's acceptance of the proposal also scales up domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war.
On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv to call for the end of the Gaza war and a deal to free the remaining captives in the strip.
Around 50 out of the 251 captives taken by the Palestinian factions on 7 October 2023 remain in Gaza, with at least 30 believed killed by Israeli bombardment of the strip.
Netanyahu has yet to comment on the plan publicly.
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