Qatar: We stand in full solidarity with Egypt and reject Netanyahu’s use of its name to distract Israeli public opinion

Qatar announced today, Tuesday, that it stands in full solidarity with Egypt, stressing its rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dragging its name into the matter to distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct mediation.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "The State of Qatar expresses its full solidarity with the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt and its rejection of the statements of the Israeli Prime Minister, through which he tried to drag Egypt's name into distracting Israeli public opinion and obstructing joint mediation efforts aimed at a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the exchange of hostages and detainees."

The statement added: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the Israeli occupation's approach, which is based on trying to falsify facts and mislead world public opinion by repeating lies and falsehoods, will ultimately lead to the demise of peace efforts and the expansion of the circle of violence in the region. In this context, the Ministry stresses the need to strengthen regional and international efforts to compel Israel to end its brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip immediately, in preparation for addressing the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Strip."

Egypt expressed its complete rejection of the statements made by the Israeli Prime Minister on September 2, in which he tried to use Egypt's name to distract Israeli public opinion, stressing that Netanyahu's statements aim to obstruct reaching a ceasefire deal and exchanging hostages and detainees, and to obstruct the mediation efforts undertaken by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Egypt also affirms its rejection of all allegations made by Israeli officials in this regard.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “The Arab Republic of Egypt holds the Israeli government responsible for the consequences of issuing such statements that further aggravate the situation and aim to justify aggressive and provocative policies that lead to further escalation in the region.” It continued: “The Arab Republic of Egypt affirms its keenness to continue to play its historic role in leading the peace process in the region in a way that maintains regional peace and security and achieves stability for all peoples of the region.”

Israeli Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "recently requested a government meeting at the Philadelphi Corridor" on the border between Gaza and Egypt, but this request "was rejected."

The channel quoted sources close to Netanyahu as saying that the prime minister "asked the head of the General Security Service (Shabak) Ronen Bar, whether the government ministers could hold a meeting on the Philadelphi corridor, in armored personnel carriers."

She added that the meeting "would have been an opportunity to brief the ministers on the area and convince them to support Netanyahu's request that the area remain under Israeli military control, even if an agreement is reached to release the hostages and a ceasefire."

According to the report, Netanyahu "believed that by taking such a dramatic step he would be able to emphasize the seriousness of the request (to keep the forces in the Philadelphi corridor)," indicating that the head of the General Security Service "refused to respond to the request, due to the extent of the security measures required for such an unprecedented event in an active war zone."