Egypt warned against attempts to cast doubt on and insult the mediation efforts it is undertaking between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel, and stressed that this may prompt it to completely withdraw from mediation between the two sides.

The head of the Egyptian State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, said in a statement that the article published by the American website CNN about what it called “Egypt changing the terms of the ceasefire deal” in the Gaza Strip is in fact pure allegations devoid of any information or information. facts.

Rashwan challenged the American website to attribute the allegations it published to specific official American or Israeli sources, and stressed that Egypt categorically rejects these allegations.

He pointed out that the Information Service sent an official letter to CNN explaining this rejection and the grounds for which it was based, and demanded that the site publish the Egyptian response immediately.

Rashwan expressed Egypt's astonishment at the attempts of some parties to insult the enormous efforts it has made, and is still making, over the past months in an attempt to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to prevent the killing and wounding of hundreds of innocent civilians daily and the systematic destruction of all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip.

He explained that Egypt has noticed during recent periods that certain parties have been playing a game of constantly accusing the mediators, the Qatari at times and then the Egyptian at other times, accusing them of siding with one of the parties and blaming them, to procrastinate and evade making decisive decisions regarding the ceasefire deal, in order to preserve personal political interests. for some of these parties.

He added that Egypt's exercise of the mediation role in the ceasefire deal was based on repeated demands and insistence from Israel and the United States to play this role, as a result of their awareness of the extent of Egyptian experience and professionalism in managing such negotiations, especially since Egypt has multiple previous successful experiences between Israel and Hamas.

Rashwan stressed that the false publication and lies being promoted about the Egyptian role cannot be read as anything other than an attempt to punish Egypt for its firm, principled positions towards the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people in light of its mediation role.

He pointed out Egypt's declared adherence to the necessity of the presence of Palestinian elements on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing in order to agree to Egypt operating it on its part, and its failure to recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian side of the crossing.

He also pointed out Egypt's position, consistent with international law and international humanitarian law, by joining the State of South Africa in the lawsuit filed before the International Court of Justice against the practices of the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the State Information Service concluded his statements by emphasizing that continuing attempts to cast doubt and insult the Egyptian mediation efforts and roles, with allegations that contradict reality, will only lead to further complicating the situation in Gaza and the entire region, and may push the Egyptian side to take a decision to completely withdraw from the mediation it is carrying out in the current conflict. 

Rashwan held the concerned parties, especially those who spread lies about the Egyptian position, fully responsible for the unprecedented humanitarian disasters and the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the killing and wounding of thousands of innocent Palestinians, their displacement and starvation, and the destruction of everything in the Strip.
The American CNN network quoted three sources, which it described as familiar with the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, saying, “Egyptian intelligence silently changed the terms of the ceasefire proposal that Israel had already signed earlier this month. Which ultimately led to the thwarting of a deal that could have released Israeli hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons, and set a path to temporarily end the fighting in Gaza.”

The sources added that the ceasefire agreement announced by Hamas on May 6 was not what the Qataris or Americans believed had been presented to Hamas for review.

On May 6, the Hamas movement announced that it had informed the mediators in Egypt and Qatar of its approval of the ceasefire proposal in the Gaza Strip, but the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas’ response was “far from the requirements” of Israel.

Egypt, Qatar, and the United States are mediating to reach a second truce between Israel and Hamas, after the first, which lasted a week until early last December.