Egypt calls for pressure on Israel to obey UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire

CAIRO, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday urged the international community to pressure Israel to comply with the recent UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for reaching an immediate ceasefire and establishing humanitarian corridors across the war-stricken Gaza Strip.

Sisi's remarks came during an extraordinary virtual summit of the leaders of the BRICS group on the Palestinian-Israeli issue and the current situation in Gaza, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

"Egypt has opposed and condemned the killing of civilians from all sides, and at the same time it denounces, in the strongest terms, the targeting of civilians and civilian facilities, particularly hospitals," Sisi said in a video speech.

He said that "the international community bears humanitarian and political responsibility to save civilians in Gaza and to end these inhumane practices."

Israel has been carrying out an all-out attack on Gaza to retaliate against the Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. According to Gaza's government media office, the Palestinian death toll in the enclave has exceeded 14,000.

Adopted in mid-November, the UNSC Resolution 2712 called for humanitarian pauses and corridors in Gaza to allow relief supplies into the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Hundreds of humanitarian aid convoys donated by Egypt and other countries and international organizations have been sent to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt's North Sinai and the besieged Palestinian enclave since Oct. 21.