CAIRO – Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Ambassador Nasser Kamel said that Egypt undertook its responsibility towards the people of Gaza and mobilized an international stance rejecting the forced displacement of the Palestinians.
In exclusive statements to MENA on Friday on the sidelines of a conference on “Closing gender gaps in the MENA financial sector: towards women-led business development,” Kamel said Egypt assumed its humanitarian, moral and historical role and responsibility towards the people of the Gaza Strip, and worked to save the Palestinian cause from attempts to undermine it, as it warned of the danger of expelling a population from its lands.
The Egyptian political leadership is committed to supporting our brothers in Palestine for moral, historical, geopolitical, security and economic reasons, Kamel made it clear.
The Israeli war on the Gaza Strip represents a “threat” to Egypt’s national security and the Egyptian economy, as the expansion of the conflict in the region affects the Suez Canal and the flow of tourism to the country, Kamel said.
Egypt has a pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian cause and the Palestinians, by virtue of the unity of geography and the Egyptian people’s great concern with this issue.
In this regard, Egypt has provided everything that is dear and precious since 1948 and to this day, it is in solidarity with the Palestinian people till attaining their legitimate right to establish their independent state, he further noted.
The whole world has seen the Egyptian position in this crisis, starting with its “outright refusal” of forced displacement of the Palestinian people from their land and its direct response to attempts to undermine the Palestinian issue and the dire threat to international peace and security and the end of lifesaving aid to the Gazans, who are suffering from famine, thirst and disease, he said.
Egypt continues to act as the most important mediator in the truce negotiations in the Gaza Strip and is involved in the heart of the crisis out of its responsibility towards the Arab nation and its full commitment to stand with the Palestinians in their just cause towards self-determination and establishing their independent state on their occupied land, he added.
Replying a question about the position of the UfM that includes Israel and Palestine as members, regarding the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, Kamel said that the meeting of foreign ministers of the UfM countries, which was held in Spain’s Barcelona city in November 2023, was devoted to discuss the critical situation in Gaza, adding the meeting was an opportunity to exchange views on this matter.
The UfM is focusing during the current stage on the role that it could play in the post-ceasefire stage in Gaza, if the countries concerned are able to establish a framework conducive to the reconstruction of Gaza, he said.
It will also work to contribute to supporting the Palestinian administration and it will play a role in the Gaza reconstruction process, he added.
He stated that the agenda of the UfM involved the establishment of a water desalination plant in the Gaza Strip, but due to the unprecedented obstacles imposed by Israel up till now, and in spite of the availability of the funds needed to build the plant, it has not been established yet.
The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) marked International Women’s Day by co-hosting the two-day conference in Cairo, which aimed at reducing the high levels of entrepreneurial inequality between men and women.
This first joint event since the signing of a cooperation agreement a month prior, the institutions worked hand in hand to bring together 100 public and private sector participants, highlighting initiatives and best practices that encourage female entrepreneurship and then promote more equitable regional growth.
