“That is not true,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Thursday, in response to a question about whether Israel and the United States are pressuring Egypt to accept the displacement of Palestinians in exchange for debt cancellation.

He added in a press conference that Palestinians cannot be displaced outside their homeland.

On Tuesday, Egypt rejected Israeli statements calling for the “displacement” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to countries around the world, describing them as “irresponsible.”

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry’s statements, according to the Foreign Ministry’s statement, came in response to a statement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in which he said: “The voluntary displacement of the population of Gaza is the most appropriate humanitarian solution” to resolve the conflict.

Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, said in a tweet on Tuesday: “I welcome the initiative to voluntarily evacuate the Arabs of Gaza to the countries of the world. This is the correct humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the entire region after 75 years of asylum, poverty, and dangers,” he said.

Shukri said in response to Smotrich: “Over the past period, a fluidity has been observed in irresponsible statements attributed to Israeli government officials, which in their entirety violate the rules and provisions of international law and international humanitarian law.”

Shukry stressed "Egypt's position categorically rejecting policies of forced displacement of Palestinians, or deliberately withholding humanitarian aid and necessary services in a way that creates unbearable conditions for civilians, or allowing the liquidation of the Palestinian cause."

Shukri's statements come as the Israeli occupation has launched an aggression against Gaza for 41 days, leaving 11,500 Palestinian martyrs, according to official Palestinian sources on Wednesday evening, while medical sources confirm that the numbers are much higher and do not show the scale of the disaster in the Strip.

Borrell calls on Israel "not to be led by anger"

For his part, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on Thursday for the "immediate and unconditional" release of prisoners held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He also called on Israel "not to be led by anger" in the aggression.

Borrell said during his visit to the Be'eri community in southern Israel: "In the name of the European Union, I request their immediate and unconditional release."

He added: "I understand your fears and pain... I understand your anger, but let me ask that you do not be led by anger," he said.

Borrell stressed, "Israel must be defended," adding: "Not every horrific incident justifies the other, but innocent civilians have died, including thousands of children, in the past few weeks."

On Monday, the Hamas movement considered the accusations of European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell of using hospitals and civilians as human shields as a “European cover for Israel’s crimes.”

The movement expressed in a statement its strong rejection and denunciation of “Borrell’s attempt to distort the facts by submitting to the false occupation narrative, which claims that Hamas is using hospitals and civilians as human shields.”

On Sunday, Borrell said in a post on the “X” platform: “We condemn Hamas’ use of hospitals and civilians as human shields,” calling on civilians to “leave the combat zones.”