UPDATE – Gaza war ‘grave threat’ to Egypt’s national security, Sisi says after reelection as president

UPDATES WITH DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE

By Ibrahim Al-Khazen

CAIRO (AA) – Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Monday that the Gaza war poses a grave threat to Egypt’s national security.

Sisi was reelected to a third, six-year term in office in last week’s presidential elections, the country’s electoral commission announced early Monday.

Commission chief Hazem Badawy said 44.7 million Egyptians cast ballots during the polls, out of 67.3 million eligible voters, with a turnout of 66.8%.

According to the official results, Sisi won 89.6% of the valid votes.

In a televised speech after the election results, Sisi said the Egyptian polls represented the world's rejection of Israel’s “inhumane war on the Gaza Strip, and not simply the election of a president.”

“This war must come to an end, given the grave threat it poses to Egypt’s national security and the untold suffering it has caused Palestinians,” he added.

Israel's air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas have killed at least 19,453 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 52,286 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The war has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity.

​​​​​​​*Writing by Mohammad Sio and Ahmed Asmar in Ankara