Egypt calls for international summit over Palestinian crisis

By Ibrahim Khazen

CAIRO, Egypt (AA) – Seeking to reduce the military escalation in the Gaza Strip, Egypt on Sunday issued an invitation for an international regional summit on the latest developments in Palestine.

“Egypt extends an invitation to host an international regional summit to address the developments and future of the Palestinian issue,” a statement said following a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The meeting reviewed “developments in the regional situation, notably with regard to the military escalation in the Gaza Strip,” the statement added.

The meeting urged continued contacts “with international and regional partners in order to reduce the escalation and stop targeting civilians,” as well as intensifying “contacts with international and regional relief organizations in order to deliver the necessary assistance.”

Sisi reiterated that “there is no solution to the Palestinian cause except through the two-state solution,” while “rejecting and deploring the policy of displacement or attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue at the expense of neighboring countries.”

He stressed "Egypt's readiness to exert any effort to achieve calm and launch and resume a genuine peace process.”

Egyptian sources, in statements to local media over the past few days, warned against any Israeli attempts to displace the residents of Gaza to Egypt’s nearby Sinai Peninsula.

Israel had ordered the residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south, near the border gate with Egypt, but had not allowed crossings through the gate.

The statement comes Israeli forces’ sustained military push on the Gaza Strip in response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began last weekend when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel – a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

That response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering more than 1 million Gazans in the northern strip to evacuate to the south within 24 hours.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi