From the Liveblog of
Saturday, September 6, 2025
Egyptian FM says casting displacement of Gazans as voluntary is ‘nonsense’
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CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, whose country is a key mediator in efforts to end the Gaza war, says that describing the displacement of Palestinians as voluntary was “nonsense.”
Israel earlier called on Gaza City residents to leave for the south, as its forces advance deeper into the enclave’s largest urban area.
“If there is a manmade famine (in Gaza), it is to push residents out of their land. It is nonsense to say that this is voluntary displacement,” Abdelatty says in a joint press conference with the commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has supported the idea that Palestinians in Gaza should be allowed to voluntarily leave and suggested that other countries should accept them.
Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that he had spoken about the basic human right of every individual to choose where they live, particularly during times of war.
The Egyptian minister also says he spoke with US special envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday and discussed intensifying efforts to implement the latest ceasefire proposal.
He blames Israel for what he described as its intransigence over the delay in reaching a ceasefire.
The Times of Israel Community.