Egypt cannot accept Israel's actions in Gaza as "legitimate self-defense," the country's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Saturday during a news conference alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
"The unfortunate killing events in Gaza cannot be justified," Shoukry said. "The collective punishment — Israel targeting innocent civilians and facilities, medical facilities, paramedics, in addition to trying to force immigration for Palestinians to leave their lands — this cannot be a legitimate self-defense at all."
Shoukry said earlier this week that a leaked Israeli intelligence ministry document that proposed the relocation of millions of Palestinians to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt was a "ludicrous proposition."
The foreign minister accused Israel of violating international laws of war, and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza without conditions.
He went on to say that "Egypt is exerting all its efforts to guarantee that aid is delivered to Gaza," as a humanitarian crisis continues to unfold there.
The Egyptian leader also said it was premature to discuss the future of Gaza at this time.
"We have to concentrate on the subject at hand, whether it be the cessation of hostilities, addressing the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, addressing the issues of displacement and the provision of safety for the civilians, and addressing the overall context of the conflict," Shoukry added.
More from the summit: Shoukry and Safadi were among the Arab leaders meeting with Blinken on Saturday at a summit in Jordan.
The Jordanian foreign minister also slammed Israel after the meetings, saying Israel's “war crimes must stop and its immunity from international law must end.”
He too called for "an immediate ceasefire" and said Jordan does not accept Israel's actions as self-defense.
"With every missile unleashed on Gaza, with every killing of a Palestinian child … the whole region is sinking in a sea of hatred that will define generations to come," Safadi said. "That is already starting to manifest itself in expressions and acts of hatred in the region and the deplorable acts and expressions of Islamophobia and antisemitism."
Safadi went on to say his priority is to stop the war, saying the U.S. has a leading role to play in those efforts.