Egyptian, German presidents talk Gaza war, bilateral cooperation

Egypt

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi welcomed Wednesday (Sep. 11) his German counterpart who is on a three-day visit to the northern African country.

It is the first visit by a German president to Egypt in almost 25 years.

Speaking alongside President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, el-Sissi highlighted the severe humanitarian crisis Gaza, reminding the grim death toll of over 40,000 victims "the two-thirds women and children".

He urged international action, particularly from Europe.

Germany is one of Israel's 2nd arms suppliers after the USA.

"From our side, here in Egypt, we are always keen to have a positive role, whether with the Palestinians - Hamas in particular - in cooperation with the Qataris and the United States of America, but Europe has a great weight," el-Sissi said.

And it's very important during this critical phase to apply additional pressure in order to be able to reach an agreement that achieves stability and lightens the struggle of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

11 months into the war, Israel has been accused of war crimes and genocide.

Calls by the US, Egypt and Qatar and record protests by Israelis have yet to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to strike a ceasefire deal.

Last week, the U.N. independent investigator on the right to food accused Israel of carrying out a “starvation campaign” against Palestinians.

Investigator Michael Fakhri claimed it began two days after Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7, when Israel’s military offensive in response blocked all food, water, fuel and other supplies into Gaza.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war. They abducted another 250 and are still holding around 100. Around a third of them are believed to be dead.