"No cooperation with it" .. The Egyptian army denies providing military assistance to Israel

The Egyptian army on Thursday evening categorically denied reports that Egypt was assisting Israel in its military operations in the Gaza Strip, stressing that "there is no cooperation with it." This came after Amnesty International said on Thursday that the Egyptian government had allowed the ship "MV Catherine" to dock and unload in the port of Alexandria on Monday.

In a statement published by the army spokesman, Colonel Gharib Abdel Hafez - on the X website - he said, "The Egyptian Armed Forces categorically deny what was circulated on social media and suspicious accounts and what is being promoted about helping Israel in its military operations in general and in detail."

The post stressed that "there is no form of cooperation with Israel" and called on "everyone to be accurate in the information being circulated", stressing that "the armed forces are the nation's shield and sword to protect its capabilities and defend its great people."

#Military_Spokesman : The Egyptian Armed Forces categorically deny what has been circulated on social media and suspicious accounts and what is being promoted about assisting Israel in its military operations in general and in detail.
Instagram: https://t.co/gCrygjzPaf
Threads: https://t.co/nQnX4C5CLJ pic.twitter.com/voEoiEcBmh

— Military Spokesman (@EgyArmySpox) October 31, 2024

Meanwhile, Al-Qahirah News Channel quoted an unidentified senior Egyptian source as saying, "There is no truth to what was reported in some biased media outlets about the port of Alexandria receiving the German ship Catherine, which is carrying military supplies for Israel."

What's the story?

According to Reuters, human rights lawyers filed a petition with the German capital's courts on Wednesday to block a shipment of 150 tons of military explosives carried by the German cargo ship "MV Kathrine", which they say is headed to Israel's largest defense supplier, "Elbit Systems".

Data from the London Stock Exchange Group and ship-tracking website Marine Traffic showed the German ship docked at the Egyptian port of Alexandria on Monday.

The lawsuit filed by the European Legal Support Center stated that the explosives shipment could be inserted into munitions used in Israel's war on Gaza, which could contribute to the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The center said that the ship, due to the explosives bound for Israel, was denied entry to several African and Mediterranean ports, including Angola, Slovenia, Montenegro and Malta. It added that Portuguese authorities recently asked the ship to fly the German flag instead of the Portuguese before it could continue its journey.

Germany said the shipment was not loaded or shipped from its territory and therefore did not require an export licence.

Tension in relationships

For its part, Anadolu Agency indicates that since Israel took control of the Philadelphi Corridor and the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt last May, tension has prevailed between Cairo and Tel Aviv, against the backdrop of continuous Egyptian criticism of the Israeli side as a result of the war of extermination that Israel is waging on the Gaza Strip, and its obstruction of relief aid.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been waging a "genocidal" war on Gaza, resulting in more than 144,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Israel continues its massacres, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to end them immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged Gaza Strip.

(Al Jazeera + Agencies)