Egypt refuses to consider Israel's actions as legitimate self-defense since these actions lead to the death of civilians in the Gaza Strip, which cannot be justified, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Saturday.
"There can be no justification for the deaths of civilians in Gaza [...] We will not accept attempts to justify these actions as a legitimate right to self-defense," Shoukry said during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al Safadi.
Shoukry added that Israeli strikes on civilian targets and attempts to force the displacement of Palestinians "cannot be considered a right to self-defense."
Al Safadi, in turn, noted that other Arab countries also refuse to consider Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as self-defense.
On October 7, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, breaching the border and killing and taking captives in nearby Israeli military sites and communities. The movement said its operation, Al-Aqsa Flood, was in response to Israeli provocations and occupation of Palestinian territories.
Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion into Gaza, ostensibly to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue hostages.
The escalation of the conflict has resulted in the deaths of some 1,400 people in Israel and more than 9,000, including at least 4,800 children, in Gaza, and has raised the risk of a wider regional conflagration amid fears that Iran or the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah could enter the fray. The UN and other human rights groups warned of a possible genocide in Gaza.
