CAIRO, July 25, 2018 - Egypt's permanent representative at the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Mohamed Idris, said Wednesday that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip was one of the symptoms of the deadlock in the peace process and the continued occupation of the Palestinian territories. The ambassador was delivering Egypt's statement during the Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian cause. Ambassador Idris warned of the gravity of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and said that these conditions were a result of the stalemate in the peace process and the continued occupation of the Palestinian territories. Ambassador Idris said that the Egyptian stance on the determinants of the peace process was firm and was based on the establishment of the Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with international law and the relevant UN and Security Council resolutions. He also said dealing with the Strip was not separate from the general context of the Palestinian cause, asserting the need to end the occupation because Gaza was part of the occupied Palestinian territories like the West Bank. Idris also reviewed Egypt's efforts to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and said that Egypt had opened the Gaza border crossing to facilitate movement from and to Gaza, in solidarity with people of the Strip and despite the security conditions.
