President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi emphasized that Egypt supports the role of United Nations agencies, especially UNRWA, in the Gaza Strip and in countries hosting Palestinian refugees.

This came during a phone call today between President El-Sisi and António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General.

Ambassador Mohamed El-Shenawy, the official spokesperson for the Presidency, stated that the call addressed recent developments regarding the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip; the President reviewed with the UN Secretary-General the content of the agreement reached through Egyptian-Qatari-American mediation at its various stages. The President stressed the necessity of agreeing on all details related to the different phases of the agreement and the full implementation of the agreement.

Ambassador El-Shenawy added that the UN Secretary-General thanked Egypt and the President for their efforts to stop the war in Gaza, praising Egypt’s significant efforts over the past two years to achieve ceasefires, alleviate the humanitarian suffering of Gaza’s people, and deliver humanitarian aid to the Strip, in cooperation with the United Nations and all UN and relief agencies. He expressed his hope for continued cooperation with Egyptian governmental and relief institutions to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The Secretary-General affirmed the President’s statement on the necessity to agree on all details related to the ceasefire agreement at all its stages, emphasizing the need to agree on a path leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, ensuring no separation between Gaza and the West Bank, and applying the right to self-determination.

The spokesperson noted that the UN Secretary-General confirmed the necessity of deploying international forces in the Gaza Strip and the importance of granting international legitimacy to the agreement through the Security Council. He also stressed the need to immediately start rebuilding the Gaza Strip and welcomed the conference that Egypt will host for this purpose.

In the same context, the Secretary-General affirmed that Egypt is the pivotal and essential actor in achieving stability in the Middle East and in preserving the rights of the Palestinian people, and that President El-Sisi’s wise leadership is one of the fundamental factors that led to this important agreement and positive outcome.

The spokesperson mentioned that the President expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to the Secretary-General for his positive stances, especially since the beginning of the Gaza crisis, confirming that Egypt has already started sending urgent food and medical aid shipments to the Strip immediately after the ceasefire agreement was reached, stressing Egypt’s support for the role of UN agencies, especially UNRWA, in Gaza and in countries hosting Palestinian refugees.