Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati said on Monday that Israel is spreading "lies" to divert attention from the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange, and denounced what he described as "provocative policies."
Abdel-Ati's remarks came during a joint press conference in Cairo with his Danish counterpart, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, broadcast by Cairo News Channel.
In response to a question from a journalist, Abdel-Ati replied: “Israel is spreading lies aimed at diverting attention from the (failure) to reach a prisoner exchange deal in Gaza and implement a ceasefire in the Strip.”
He explained: "We spent huge sums to build a security fence and destroy tunnels on the border with the Gaza Strip," stressing that "the closer we get to an agreement in Gaza, the more we face (provocative policies) that only aim to further escalation."
Abdel-Ati did not reveal what he called the "lies," but Cairo announced on Tuesday its rejection of a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to Gaza through tunnels under the Philadelphi border axis.
Egypt stressed that Netanyahu's statement was an attempt to obstruct the Egyptian-Qatari-American mediation to reach an agreement to end the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza for the eleventh month.
Netanyahu always insists on continuing to occupy the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which is rejected by Cairo and Hamas, and hinders reaching an agreement.
Security officials, the opposition and prisoners' families have accused Netanyahu for months of obstructing a deal with Hamas, fearing the collapse of his ruling coalition and the loss of his position, and are demanding that he resign.
Far-right ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are threatening to withdraw from the government and bring it down if it accepts an agreement to end the war.
With American support, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza since October 7, resulting in more than 135,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amidst massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.
It's escalating crisis in Gaza.
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