Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Saturday that the recent proposal by Cairo for truce between Israel and Palestinian factions is the only available initiative that has been internationally endorsed since the beginning of a Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.
"The Egyptian initiative is the only one which has been endorsed by the Arab League as well as the international community," Shoukry said at a joint press conference in Cairo with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, who met President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi earlier in the day.
"The Egyptian initiative provides an opportunity for a ceasefire, ending the Palestinian bloodshed, lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip and providing the basic needs of Gaza's Palestinians," Shoukry added.
Fabius, for his part, said his meeting with al-Sisi was "positive" and reiterated France's support for Egypt's recently-announced truce proposal.
"An immediate ceasefire is mandatory before any possible negotiations could take place," added Fabius, who said he will later head to Jordan and Israel to discuss truce prospects.
Egypt issued a ceasefire proposal earlier this week, which called on Israel to cease all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, halt all ground operations and refrain from targeting civilians, according to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement.
It also called on Palestinian resistance factions to cease hostilities against Israel, halt rocket fire and cross-border attacks and stop targeting civilians.
The overture further calls for reopening Gaza's closed border crossings and facilitating the movement of persons and goods in and out of the embattled coastal strip, "once the security situation becomes stable on the ground."
While Israel initially accepted the plan, the Egyptian proposal was rejected by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which said they were never consulted to discuss the plan's terms.
The two groups also asserted that the Egyptian initiative failed to address core demands of the Palestinian resistance.
On July 7, Israel launched a major military offensive on the Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – with the ostensible aim of halting Palestinian rocket fire.
On Thursday night, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations inside the embattled coastal territory.
At least 321 Palestinians have been killed – and nearly 3000 injured, many seriously – in unrelenting airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip since Israel's operation began early last week, according to Gaza health officials.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to lob rockets at Israel – some of which have reached Tel Aviv – in response to deadly airstrikes that continued on Friday.
Since hostilities began 13 days ago, two Israelis have been killed – a civilian killed by rocket fire from Gaza and a soldier taking part in the ongoing ground operation.
Israel's military offensive, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major assault on the Gaza Strip in the last six years.
By Ahmed al-Sersawi
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
