STORY: Egypt, Jordan renew call for ceasefire in Gaza
SHOOTING TIME: July 10, 2024
DATELINE: July 11, 2024
LENGTH: 0:02:02
LOCATION: Cairo
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): BADR ABDELATTY, Egyptian Foreign Minister
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): AYMAN SAFADI, Jordan's Foreign Affairs Minister
4. various of the meeting and press conference

STORYLINE:

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his visiting Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi held talks in Cairo on Wednesday, renewing calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and warning against a regional spillover from the conflict.

The two ministers agreed to continue working with regional and international partners to achieve two main goals: an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid supplies to the enclave, said Abdelatty in a joint press conference with Safadi.

They held Israel responsible for preventing aid inflow through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza due to Israel's recent control of the Palestinian side of the crossing.

Abdelatty stressed that Israel's continuous "occupation" of the Palestinian side of the crossing exposes the Palestinians to "an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe."

The two ministers expressed complete rejection of Israel's "systematic policies" that seek to displace the Palestinians from their lands, according to the Egyptian foreign minister.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): BADR ABDELATTY, Egyptian Foreign Minister 
"Regretfully, amid international silence, it has now been more than eight months since the Israeli side began its operation of killing, destruction, and systematic sabotage in the Gaza Strip. More than 37,000 people have been killed and over 87,000 have been wounded. Regretfully, the killing and destruction are still going on."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): AYMAN SAFADI, Jordan's Foreign Affairs Minister 
"We are on the 278th day of the savage and brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. Israel has perpetrated historically unprecedented war crimes during this aggression, killing children and UN aid workers, and destroying entire communities. Israel has targeted schools, hospitals, mosques, and churches, making Gaza an unsafe place for our people, including children, women, and the elderly. This situation presents a significant challenge, and our common efforts are focused on stopping this aggression and ending the humanitarian catastrophe, which is compounded day by day."

The ministers also expressed their countries' full support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and rejection of targeting the agency and obstructing its work in Gaza by Israeli troops.

The Egyptian-Jordanian talks came while delegations from Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Israel met on Wednesday in Qatar's capital Doha to resume the Gaza truce talks.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Cairo.
(XHTV)