No talk on Gaza's future until cease-fire reached: Egypt

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

ISTANBUL (AA) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Tuesday that the future of the Gaza Strip cannot be discussed until reaching a cease-fire in the Palestinian territory.

“Efforts must focus on the cease-fire,” Shoukry said during a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Cairo.

“We can’t talk about issues that might be understood as accepting the continuation of this situation of military actions and the targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip,” he added.

Israeli officials have outlined proposals for the future governance in the Gaza Strip following the end of its ongoing war on the seaside enclave.

“For overcoming the current stage and talking about the future, a cease-fire must be enforced for this talk to be meaningful,” Shoukry said.

The top Egyptian diplomat said the international community has failed to demand a cease-fire in Gaza clearly.

Baerbock, for her part, called for a new humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza to deliver the much-needed humanitarian aid to the territory’s population.

The suffering of Palestinian civilians “cannot go on,” she said. “The Israeli army must do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”

Israel has pounded the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 23,210 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 59,167 others, according to local health authorities.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas offensive.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced, while all of them are food insecure, according to the UN. Hundreds of thousands of people are living without shelter, and ⁠less than half of aid trucks are entering the territory than before the start of the conflict.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar