Cairo [Egypt], October 29: Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call from United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday, during which they discussed ways to protect civilians of the Palestinian Gaza Strip facing an ongoing Israeli siege and bombardment.
The talks focused on "the ongoing diplomatic efforts to stop the escalation in the Gaza Strip," said the Egyptian presidency in a statement.
Sisi and Guterres exchanged views on joint efforts to protect the civilians in Gaza and provide them with necessary humanitarian aid from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing under UN supervision.
Egypt and the UN have been cooperating to send tons of humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza, which is facing a lack of food, fuel, electricity and communications under the Israeli siege.
The seventh humanitarian aid convoy is currently being prepared to be sent to Gaza from Egypt via Rafah crossing, said Egypt's Al-Qahera News on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, Sisi expressed in a televised speech his appreciation for the countries that sent humanitarian aid supplies through Egypt's El-Arish airport to be delivered to Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
The Egyptian president also praised the recent, overwhelmingly passed resolution of the United Nations General Assembly calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, describing it as "very important."
Egypt also attempts to ease the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza by mediating the release of Israeli hostages in the enclave, according to the Egyptian president.
The talks came as the Israeli strikes on Gaza over the past three weeks killed at least 7,703 Palestinians and wounded 19,743 others, according to the latest updates from the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The Israeli escalation was in retaliation for the attacks launched on Oct. 7 by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which runs Gaza, that killed about 1,400 in Israel.
Source: Xinhua