Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and UN Secretary-General António Guterres held a meeting and discussed on Sunday efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian president said in a statement that Sisi reviewed Egypt’s “intensive efforts” to achieve an immediate ceasefire, exchange prisoners and ensure access to sufficient humanitarian aid.
Furthermore, Siss praised Guterres’ efforts to call on the international community to contribute to ending the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, according to the statement.
He also warned of the serious consequences of cutting off funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
The UN chief, for his part, hailed Egypt’s regional role as a crucial pillar of stability and emphasised the importance of achieving a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes for “the delivery and effective distribution of aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.”
Guterres arrived on Saturday in the Egyptian city of El Arish, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, where he visited Palestinian patients in the city’s hospital. It was his second visit to Egypt after the beginning of the war, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October last year, which served as an Israeli response.
The counter-offensive has caused more than 32,200 Palestinians to be killed and more than 74,500 injured due to massive destruction and lack of basic necessities. According to the UN, the Israeli war has led to the internal displacement of 85 percent of Gaza’s population amid severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
