Egypt Remains Adamant On Stopping Aggression On Gaza Despite Occupation's Stalling

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) News feature by Islam Abdelfattah
CAIRO, Dec 29 (KUNA) -- Hopes to declare a cease-fire to stop hostilities in Gaza have faded due to the Israeli Occupation recurring procrastination, at times setting new terms and at others accusing Hamas movement of hampering the aspired truce deal.
Mediation efforts by Egypt and Qatar have been deadlocked again because of the occupation policy of dodging and stalling, although the negotiations have resulted in narrowing the gap between the two sides' stances.
The aspired truce is basically aimed at muzzling the guns, swapping the prisoners and sending sufficient relief and humanitarian aid into the bombed out Gaza Strip, populated by some two million people struggling to remain alive on meagre supplies amid high heaps of ruins and no basic services whatsoever.
Hamas declared, last Wednesday, that reaching a truce had been delayed due to new conditions forwarded by the occupation related to troop withdrawal, halting the fighting, releasing the prisoners and returning the relocated.
There has been some optimism recently that an accord is within reach to stop the war of genocide, waged by the Israeli occupation on Gaza since early October; however renewed procrastination on part of the Israeli Government has caused the hopes to suddenly disappear into thin air.
A senior level Israeli delegation visited Cairo on December 10 as part of the efforts to halt the fighting in Gaza and pave the way for dispatching aid into the enclave. Last Friday, Cairo hosted a meeting of delegations from the Palestinian factions, namely Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad, also addressing the same issue.
Moreover, early this month, Cairo hosted a ministerial conference to boost humanitarian response for Gaza, with participation of 108 states including Kuwait and international organizations.
Hazem Omar, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the Egyptian Senate, said in a statement to KUNA that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government have been hampering regional and international efforts for calm in Gaza.
Omar said that since launch of the Israeli aggression, Egypt has spared no effort to stop it and provide humanitarian aid for the beleaguered Gazans, who have been victims of excessive and arbitrary Israeli force practice.
Egypt has masterminded several initiatives to stop the fighting and free the prisoners however it has always faced procrastination by the Israeli Government, he said, noting that Cairo despite its peace seeking efforts had to deal with escalation from Tel Aviv, forces of which bombarded Rafah in May and seized Rafah passageway.
Despite such challenges, Cairo had pursued the diplomacy, reaching a deal on a cease-fire document on May 27, 2024, Omar added.
The document addresses issues such as categories of the prisoners to be released by Hamas and numbers of those held by the Israelis. Moreover, it contains geographical information about a planned Israeli withdrawal and return of the relocated to their original homes.
However, Egypt was surprised on July 29, 2024, during the negotiations in Rome that the occupation government presented a paper including basic changes to the previous accord, the May 27 document.
"At this point, Egypt has become convinced that the occupation government has no political willingness to stop the war and the aggression and that Netanyahu is not serious about calming the situation and is deceiving all stakeholders," he elaborated.
Omar indicated that Tel Aviv has recently shown some seriousness after the US president-elect Donald Trump warned against continuation of the Gaza war. (end)
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