King Abdullah, al-Sisi say they reject any Israel move to expel Palestinians

Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi said after a summit in Cairo on Wednesday that they rejected any Israeli move to expel Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, state media reported.

In a statement, both leaders also said the international community should pressure Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire and allow enough aid into war-torn Gaza to ease the “tragic plight” of over 2 million people under siege there.

Israel on Wednesday again pounded Gaza with airstrikes and shelling after its military chief warned the war raging with Hamas since the Palestinian group’s October 7 attacks will last “many more months.”

Explosions lit up the sky over the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis – a focus of heavy urban combat since the Israeli army said it had largely gained control over Gaza’s north.

Heavy firefights also raged again around Gaza City in the north, while an airstrike wounded 11 people near Rafah, a far-southern city crowded with internally displaced people, witnesses said.

Gaza’s spiraling humanitarian crisis has amplified calls for an end to the hostilities.

The conflict erupted when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants also took around 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in captivity, Israel says.

Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment and a siege of Gaza followed by a ground invasion from October 27.

The campaign has killed at least 21,110 people, according to the latest toll issued by Gaza’s health ministry, about two thirds of them women and children.