Statement
Statement summary
“The Middle East is at the point of implosion,” warned Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Egypt, pointing to the plight of Palestinian civilians who fall victim to “the most heinous Israeli actions […] “for a sin they did not commit”. He voiced appreciation of the United States President Donald Trump for his commitment to work with the regional leaders to “end this unjust war against Gaza”. Cairo has sought a sustainable ceasefire in partnership with Qatar and the United States since the onset of the war, he said, stressing that “the entry of humanitarian aid must be a priority”.
He rejected any scenarios of forcible displacement of the Palestinian people, which “would be a crime of ethnic cleansing”. Egypt “is not and will not be a gate to liquidate the Palestinian cause”, he emphasized, adding: “We will never be a partner in a new Nakba.” Commending the “courageous decisions” to recognize the Palestinian statehood and voicing support to the conference on the two-State solution led by Saudi Arabi and France, he warned that “Israel cannot be secure when others are not secure. The region cannot see stability without an independent State of Palestine.” To this end, Egypt together with Saudi Arabia developed a joint vision for security and cooperation in the region adopted by the League of Arab States.
On regional issues, he said that as part of the international Quartet, Egypt works to restore stability, peace and security in Sudan based on national Sudanese ownership. On Libya, he called for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections and the withdrawal of foreign fighters. He also condemned “repeated Israeli violations of the sovereignty of Lebanon and Syria”. On the Red Sea, he noted Egypt has lost “more than $9 billion revenues of the Suez Canal” due to disruptions in navigation and stressed the importance of security in Somalia, announcing Egypt’s intention to contribute to an African Union mission in Somalia. He pledged to protect Egypt’s “existential” interest in the Nile River Basin, while also highlighting Egypt’s humanitarian role, hosting “more than 10 million refugees” in an environment that respects their dignity and rights, “despite increasing burdens that go beyond our capacity”.
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Read also the UN News story in Hindi about the declaration made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates of Egypt at the General Debate.
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Right of reply
The representative of Egypt, responding to Ethiopia, said that the Ethiopian dam represents a unilateral measure that is devoid of any legitimacy. Given its long list of violations of international law, the Ethiopian side must look at itself to identify who is truly undermining stability, peace and security on the continent, he said.
The representative of Egypt reiterated his country’s rejection of all unilateral Ethiopian measures on the Nile River. Ethiopia’s intransigent positions are driven by a political agenda, not development needs, under the pretext of false claims of sovereignty over the river, which is the shared property of the nations of the Nile Basin, he said.