The UAE has expressed its full solidarity with Egypt in the face of Israeli allegations and claims regarding the Philadelphi Crossing.
It also strongly condemned and denounced the ‘offensive’ Israeli statements in this regard, which threaten stability and exacerbate the situation in the region.
A key sticking points in Gaza ceasefire talks has been Israel’s insistence on a presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-km-long (9-mile-long) stretch of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants his country to permanently control the Philadelphi — or Salaheddin — Corridor, which it seized during the war.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs praised, in a statement, the efforts of Egypt, alongside Qatar and the United States, to cease fire and release hostages, expressing its hope that it would result in the end of the war.
The Ministry expressed the country’s desire to ease Palestinian people from further suffering, and contribute to consolidating the pillars of stability and achieving sustainable security in the region.
The authority called on Israeli authorities to stop the escalation and not take steps that exacerbate tension and instability in the region, stressing the UAE’s rejection of all practices that violate international legitimacy resolutions and threaten further escalation.
It also stressed the importance of supporting all regional and international efforts made to advance the peace process in the Middle East, as well as putting an end to illegal practices that threaten the achievement of the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Egypt on Monday, September 2, reiterated its firm stance on the conditions for any ceasefire agreement in Gaza, completely rejecting the presence of Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza.
In a statement to Egypt’s Al-Qahera News TV channel, a high-ranking source said, “The ongoing conflict and the potential for its regional escalation pose significant dangers, with severe consequences on multiple levels.”
The source emphasised that the Israeli government is to blame for failing to reach a ceasefire agreement, accusing it of attempting to impose new realities on the ground to distract from its internal crises.
With inputs from Reuters, AFP