Ashraf AboArafe
At the invitation of the Italian Presidency, Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, participated on November 25 in the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with a number of Arab Foreign Ministers in the Italian city of Fiuggi, to consult on the successive developments in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and ways to stop the escalation in the Middle East region.
Minister Abdel Aati delivered a speech during the meeting in which he referred to the continued Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the blatant violations of international law and international humanitarian law committed by the Israeli army for more than a year, which caused an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in the region, denouncing the Israeli trends that target the displacement of Palestinians. The Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated Egypt’s complete rejection of any attempts to displace Palestinians and undermine the work of international agencies, most notably UNRWA, stressing that the agency’s role in alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people cannot be dispensed with. He also warned of the seriousness of the situation in the West Bank as a result of Israel’s continued policy of settlement expansion and calls to annex parts of the West Bank, highlighting the dire repercussions of these policies on efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with contiguous territories in accordance with international references and based on the two-state solution. Minister Abdel Aati stressed the need to reach an immediate ceasefire and full access to humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip without obstacles from the Israeli side.
Minister Abdel Aati also addressed the recent developments in Lebanon, where he reviewed the determinants of the Egyptian position, which are based on the need to reach an immediate ceasefire, Israel to stop violating Lebanese sovereignty, implement Security Council Resolution 1701 in all its elements without selectivity, and empower Lebanese institutions, primarily the Lebanese army, denouncing in this context Israel’s targeting of UNIFIL forces, which constitutes a violation of international law and international humanitarian law.
On the other hand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs met on the sidelines of the meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Japan, Germany, Canada and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, where he reviewed Egypt’s efforts aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and stressed the importance of the international community playing its role in stopping the Israeli violations and providing the necessary humanitarian support to support the Palestinian people to alleviate their suffering that has exceeded more than a year, noting the ministerial conference hosted by Cairo on December 2 to enhance the humanitarian response in Gaza.
