EGYPT has called for putting an end to the humanitarian sufferings of the Palestinian people and reiterated the necessity of stopping the Israeli practices aimed at driving the Palestinians for displacement outside their lands.
The call was contained in remarks by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri during a meeting he held with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, on Sunday.
Discussions during the meeting covered the Israeli practices and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, with the two sides stressing the inevitability of halting Israeli assaults against Gaza Strip and guaranteeing the full and safe entry of humanitarian aid to the Strip, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zaid said.
Minister Shoukri and UN Rapporteur Albanese also stressed the necessity of halting settlers’ increasing violence under the protection of Israeli forces in the West Bank and holding the perpetrators of such violations accountable, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said in statements on his official Facebook page.
In a related context, Minister Shoukri indicated that the continuation of Israel’s war against Gaza Strip, the accelerating pace of Israeli assaults and illegitimate settlement practices in the West Bank are conducive to heightening the risk of an outburst of the conditions in the whole of the occupied Palestinian territories, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
The Foreign Minister also warned against the consequences of the continuation of the current situation in terms of increasing the deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the ensuing security repercussions that threaten to widen the cycle of violence and affect the stability of the region and the potentials of its peoples, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
Talks between Minister Shoukri and the UN special envoy featured an exchange of assessments on the rights and humanitarian circumstances of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem.
In this respect, Minister Shoukri reiterated the necessity of halting Israel’s practices aimed at driving the Palestinians for displacement outside their lands and Israel’s implementation of policies of collective punishment and indiscriminate targeting of civilians, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
For her part, the UN special expressed valuation of the pivotal role Egypt is undertaking in order to limit the Gaza crisis as well as for its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to residents of the Strip via the Rafah crossing and by means of the air dropping of aid, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
The UN rapporteur, he added, expressed utmost concern over the catastrophic humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian people in view of Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories. She also regretted being unable to pay a field visit to Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories in view of Israel’s rejection, spokesman Abu Zaid said.
