Egypt denies agreeing to participate in UN force for Gaza crossings

Egypt dismissed, on Wednesday, reports of its participation in a potential UN-organised Arab force to control Gaza border crossings, Anadolu Agency reports.

“There is no truth to the rumours circulated by some news websites regarding Egypt’s agreement to participate in an Arab force under the United Nations to control the crossings with the Gaza Strip,” a senior Egyptian official was quoted as saying by the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel.

Egypt has also refused to coordinate with Israel on the Rafah Crossing, a vital route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, since Tel Aviv captured the Palestinian side of the terminal last month.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 37,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 85,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

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