“Gaza Druze”: Cairo pressures to ratify a deal and renews its warning against “Rafa” invasion
Amid intense Egyptian contacts aimed at agreeing a “ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, a “prisoner exchange” deal would be implemented, Cairo renewed its warning about the consequences of a large-scale military operation in the Palestinian city. Rafa's. Egyptian officials at several levels held meetings where experts considered an attempt to mobilize an international position to support efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Representatives of the Hamas movement arrived in Cairo on Monday, where a senior Egyptian source said “extended discussions took place between Egyptian security officials and representatives of the Hamas movement” regarding a proposed “ceasefire” in Gaza. What was reported by “Cairo News” channel.
An Egyptian source familiar with the progress of the talks told Asharq Al-Awsat, explaining that “Cairo is making serious efforts on several fronts to stop the fighting in the Gaza Strip and prevent the escalation of the conflict.” Concerned parties are mobilizing an international position in support of a ceasefire, warning of the danger of occupying Rafah on a humanitarian scale and in terms of its impact on Egypt.
The source added that the “ceasefire proposal now on the table for discussion is good and responds to many of the demands of both sides,” expressing his hope that “both sides will override their personal interests to reach an agreement.”
Last Friday, Cairo stepped up its mediation efforts after discussions held by the Egyptian Security Council with Tel Aviv officials, when a new plan was presented. “It takes a day or a little longer for every prisoner released,” Israeli media reported.
Mediators in Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been unsuccessful in agreeing to a “struggle” despite marathon talks between Hamas and Israel since last January. After several failed attempts at mediation, Egypt presented a new proposal. This contributed to the resumption of negotiations.
On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reiterated “the importance of achieving stability in the Middle East region and easing regional tensions,” calling for “an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the provision of relief aid to its residents.”
During a joint press conference with the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Deniz Bezerovic, at the Federal Palace, Sisi stressed the need for “serious and immediate engagement on paths to achieve a just and sustainable political solution to the Palestinian issue. A Palestinian state based on the two-state solution and the lines of June 4, 1967.” Implementation, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” refers to an “agreement with the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Along the same lines, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, when he met on Monday with his British counterpart David Cameron and British Middle East and North Africa Minister Tariq Ahmed, stressed the importance of international action to “achieve an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, towards the resumption of the two-state solution.” equivalent to pushing.”
During the meeting, held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meetings in Riyadh, Shukri discussed with British officials “the developments in the security and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and moves aimed at achieving an immediate ceasefire. Agreement to exchange prisoners and hostages between the Palestinian and Israeli sides and to increase access to humanitarian aid,” Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeidin said in an official statement.
Abu Zeid said, “Both sides agreed on the importance of investing in the current momentum of the Palestinian issue to restart an effective political process for a comprehensive political solution to the issue based on a two-state solution.” “Both sides agreed on the importance of continuing to work together to advance peace efforts and achieve an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and continue intensive consultation on relevant regional developments.”
Shukri reaffirmed “Egypt's warnings regarding the dangers of expanding the conflict due to the continuation of the war in Gaza,” citing the current escalation in the West Bank, southern Lebanon and the Red Sea.
Shukri emphasized the British side's promising role in “pressing Israel's moves to launch a ground military assault on the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as this would be a turning point in the conflict.”
For his part, Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly on Monday stressed the “need to work to avoid any attack on Rafa”. He said: “1.3 to 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are spread across the Rafah crossing into Egypt. “This makes any attack on the city a catastrophic operation.”
“The attack on Rafah will lead to a mass exodus of these Palestinians in search of a safer homeland,” Madbouli warned during a dialogue session on the situation in Gaza within the World Economic Forum's proceedings in Riyadh; “It could put pressure on the border area with Egypt.”
He continued: “I believe all of this puts us in a position as an international community to do everything we can to prevent this process from happening in Rafah and to push both sides of the war to reach a ceasefire agreement. In Gaza, we have a period of time to restart the negotiation process.” .
Egypt has warned more than once about the “consequences of the Rafah invasion on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip”. It also affirmed its rejection of Palestinian resettlement in the Sinai, and deemed it a “dissolution of the Palestinian cause”.
Regarding the ceasefire talks, the Egyptian foreign minister expressed his “confidence” in a new plan to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. “The proposal took into account the positions of both sides and tried to find a moderate course,” Shukri explained at a session on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh on Monday. Cairo indicated that it was awaiting a response to the proposal from Israel and Hamas.
In turn, the Egyptian Prime Minister said: “There has been progress on some issues related to the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, but there are still fundamental issues that require concessions from both sides.”
He added: “We are holding talks between the two sides on specific issues, but on major issues both sides need to compromise.” “The situation has become more complicated in light of the internal political situation of the two parties because internal pressures are pushing them to not reach any solution,” he stressed, “which adds to the difficulties of reaching a solution that can achieve the interests of all parties, he said, adding that each party has its own agenda in the negotiations. There is; this is what Egypt is trying to resolve and force the parties to reach a compromise solution.
But the Egyptian prime minister pointed out that “even if mediation efforts succeed in achieving a ceasefire today, it will take decades for the Gaza Strip to return to what it was before October 7th.”
Commenting on the Egyptian moves, Al-Quds University political science professor and Palestinian politician Dr. Ayman al-Raqab said, “The Egyptian proposal offers a compromise solution that contributes to bringing closer the outlook between the two sides.” Al-Raqab added to Asharq Al-Awsat, “Cairo's recent moves are aimed at garnering international support for its vision and may pressure both sides to make concessions that will eventually lead to a ceasefire.” “The invasion of Rafah has become inevitable, but a ceasefire can postpone it until the city of Rafah is emptied of its population, which reduces its humanitarian consequences,” he pointed out.
