CAIRO / ISTANBUL

The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, and France called Monday for international pressure on Israel to end its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

The appeal came during a summit in Cairo on Gaza attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordan’s King Abdullah II to discuss the situation in the Palestinian enclave.

The Egyptian Presidency said that during the trilateral summit, “the leaders called for an immediate return to the ceasefire, to protect Palestinians, and ensure that they receive urgent humanitarian aid immediately.”

According to a statement released by Jordan’s Royal Court, the three leaders called on the international community “to push for a cessation of Israel’s war on Gaza, to reinstate the ceasefire and implement all its phases, and to resume the flow of sufficient humanitarian aid to stop the deepening crisis faced by Gazans.”

King Abdullah warned that continued Israeli attacks “undermine all diplomatic and humanitarian efforts to end the crisis and threaten to plunge the entire region into chaos.”

He stressed the need to reacha  regional calm and work towards finding a political horizon to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, “which guarantees the security and stability of Palestinians, Israelis and the entire region.”

The Jordanian monarch praised Egypt’s support for Arab causes, especially Palestine, and France’s backing of a ceasefire and Arab plan to rebuild Gaza, according to the statement.

King Abdullah also reiterated Jordan’s rejection of displacing Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, warning against “the danger of continuing unilateral measures against Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as violations of Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.”

The three leaders emphasized “the importance of unified international efforts, particularly from EU nations like France, to back the Arab reconstruction plan for Gaza,” the statement said.

They also called for “a political path leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as lasting peace and security in the region and an end to the escalation of the conflict.”

Monday’s summit came as the Israeli army escalated its attacks on the Palestinian territory, where nearly 1,400 people have been killed and 3,400 others injured in airstrikes since March 18, despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

More than 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.