Egyptian President Calls for European Pressure to Cease Fire in Gaza

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called on Wednesday for European pressure to stop the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

This came during a press conference held by Sisi in Cairo, with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, which was broadcast on Egyptian state television and monitored by the Anadolu Agency correspondent.

Steinmeier's visit to Cairo between September 10 and 12 is the first by a German president in about 25 years, according to the official Egyptian news agency.

The Egyptian President said that he "discussed a number of regional issues with the German President, in addition to the crisis of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Addis Ababa has refused to conclude an agreement on with Cairo for more than a decade."

Al-Sisi stressed the "importance of European countries pressuring for a ceasefire in Gaza," emphasizing Egypt's rejection of "Israel's use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinians."

As a result of the war and Israeli restrictions that violate international laws, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are suffering from a severe shortage of food, water and medicine supplies, to the point of recording deaths due to hunger and the spread of famine in areas, especially the Gaza and North governorates.

The Egyptian president pointed out that his country "is working with the United States and Qatar to reach an agreement that achieves stability and ends the suffering in Gaza."

The German President's visit to Egypt coincides with the continuation of Cairo's mediation efforts, alongside Doha and Washington, to cease fire in Gaza and conclude a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. However, indirect negotiations between the two parties are still faltering due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on continuing the war and not withdrawing from the Strip.

With American support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving about 136,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.

In contempt of the international community, Israel continues the war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Anatolia