Pakistan, Arab countries concerned about Israel opening "one-way" Gaza exit

Riyadh: Gaza mediators Egypt and Qatar and six other Muslim-majority countries said they were concerned about Israel stating it would open a one-way crossing for Palestinians to exit the Strip.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates “expressed their deep concern regarding the statements issued by the Israeli side concerning the opening of the Rafah crossing in one direction with the aim of transferring residents of the Gaza Strip to” Egypt, they said in a joint statement.

The ministers voiced “their absolute rejection of any attempts to expel the Palestinian people from their land” and said they were against “compelling any resident of the Gaza Strip to leave”.

They urged for the crossing to be opened in both directions in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

On Wednesday, Israel said it would open the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt exclusively to allow residents to exit the Palestinian territory “in the coming days”.

But Egypt swiftly denied that it had agreed to such a deal, insisting that the key crossing be opened in both directions.

Reopening the Rafah crossing is a part of Trump’s peace plan for the Palestinian territory, as well as something UN agencies and other humanitarian actors have long called for.

But since the October ceasefire took effect, Israeli authorities have stalled on the matter.