Egypt calls any Israeli plan to separate Gaza, West Bank ‘red line’
Foreign minister calls reports about dividing Gaza into so-called red and green zones or designating certain areas for reconstruction ‘empty talk’
CAIRO/ISTANBUL
Egypt has rejected any Israeli plan to separate the West Bank and Gaza Strip or divide the Palestinian enclave, calling any such move “a red line.”
“There are two red lines in Gaza. The first is separating the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as both territories form a single, indivisible unit of the future Palestinian state,” Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in an interview with Egypt’s Channel 1 aired Friday.
“The second red line is the partition of the Gaza Strip.”
The top diplomat called reports about dividing the Gaza Strip into so-called red and green zones or designating certain areas for reconstruction “empty talk.”
On Thursday, Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to obstruct the implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which went into effect on Oct. 10.
“Netanyahu is doing everything possible to avoid moving to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, by diverting American attention toward other regional files, most notably Iran, Syria, and Lebanon,” Rashwan told the state-run Al-Qahera News channel.
The Hebrew daily Israel Hayom reported Thursday that a planned meeting between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump on Dec. 29 will conclude with a statement on the progress made toward the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The second phase of the agreement includes key provisions such as the reconstruction of Gaza, expanded Israeli withdrawal, the formation of a technocratic committee to administer the enclave, and Hamas disarmament.
Israel has failed to fully meet commitments under the first phase of the agreement, particularly a halt to hostilities, as Israeli forces have continued to launch attacks, which killed at least 411 Palestinians and wounded 1,118 since the ceasefire.
The UN estimates the cost of reconstructing Gaza at about $70 billion as a result of the Israeli war, which has killed nearly 71,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000 since October 2023.
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