Mideast region going through ‘serious changes’ amid Gaza war: Egypt

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

CAIRO (AA) – Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Sunday that the Middle East region is going through “serious changes" amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

“The region is going through serious changes recently amid intense Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and attempts to impose forced displacement towards Egyptian territories,” he said in a televised address marking the June 30, 2013 resolution, which ousted former President Mohamed Morsi.

In this war, “the conscience of humanity was absent, and the international community remained silent, turning its face away from tens of thousands of innocent victims,” he added.

More than 37,800 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 87,000 others injured in a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza since last Oct. 7 following a Hamas attack.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Sisi said the top priority of the incoming government in Egypt is to alleviate the suffering resulting from rising prices and create more job opportunities.

“I address all Egyptians … who have endured the grind of life and the rising prices during the recent period to provide a good life for their children ... I fully know the extent of the suffering,” he said.

“I assure you that my main concern and the highest priority of the new government is to alleviate that suffering, create more job opportunities, and build a better future for all,” Sisi said.

Egypt has grappled with a foreign currency crunch, soaring commodity prices, and disruptions to international supply chains, which raised the cost of living.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi