AFRICA/EGYPT - $ 500 million for the Gaza Strip: Christian churches welcome President al Sisi's initiative

Thursday, 20 May 2021 middle east   oriental churches   armed conflicts   humanitarian aid   diplomacy   geopolitics  

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - Patriarchs and bishops support the initiative of President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, who plans to allocate $ 500 million for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to remedy the damage caused by Israeli air strikes during the ongoing military escalation in the armed forces of the Jewish state fight against the military wing of Hamas. News of the funding was released on Tuesday, May 18. Immediately thereafter, the Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement approving the initiative, which was recognized as concrete support for "Palestinian brothers and sisters in the humanitarian torture they are experiencing after recent events". The message also includes a statement by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, who describes the initiative in favor of the civilian population in Gaza as confirmation of the "historical role of Egypt" in supporting the Arab fraternal peoples. The Catholic churches in Egypt also welcome the initiative of the Egyptian President "in support of the Palestinian brothers and sisters". In a statement issued on behalf of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Egypt (chaired by the Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak), representatives of the Catholic communities pay tribute to the decision of President al Sisi and lament the bloodshed that is taking place "in the twin State of Palestine". Prayers will be made to resume dialogue and start negotiations so that the guns will be silenced. Egypt wants to send a "humanitarian convoy of more than a hundred containers to the Gaza Strip" through the "Tahya Misr" social fund. A donation account has been set up at all Egyptian banks that collect funds for the reconstruction in Gaza. The Egyptian authorities are also active on the front of diplomatic initiatives aimed at reaching aimed at stopping the new spiral of violence in the Holy Land. On Tuesday May, 18 after meetings and talks between the French President Emmanuel Macron, the Egyptian President al Sisi (visiting Paris at the invitation of Macron) and King Abdallah II of Jordan, France in coordination with Egypt and with the Hashemite Kingdom submitted a resolution to the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 20/5/2021)


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