Congressman Dan Goldman Leads Call For Egypt to Facilitate Safe Zones in and Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

Goldman, Moore, Schneider, Aderholdt  Call for Egypt to Facilitate Safe Zones in Southern Gaza and Allow Humanitarian Aid to Flow into Gaza Across Rafah Border Crossing

Egypt’s Robust Participation in Humanitarian Relief Effort Critical to Safety and Security of Two Million Gazans Used by Hamas as Human Shields

Border with Egypt is Only Remaining Exit from Gaza

Read the Letter Here

Washington, DC – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) was today joined by 106 Members of Congress in calling on Egypt to work with the United States, Israel, and relevant international stakeholders to take all measured and appropriate steps to support and facilitate safe zones in southern Gaza and enable a steady supply of humanitarian assistance to flow from Egypt towards those in the safe zones until the civilian population is able to return to the north of the Gaza Strip. 

“We are optimistic that the international community will participate in providing financial assistance for this humanitarian situation, but Egypt’s robust participation is essential to the success and the safety and security of up to two million Gazans who are desperately in need of such support. Further, those states that have been long-standing intermediaries forHamas, especially Qatar and Türkiye, should be called upon to help as well,” the members wrote.

Israel has the well-established right and responsibility to respond to Hamas’s brutal terror attacks. As Israel defends itself and takes necessary measures in support of its national security and to rescue the roughly 200 hostages currently being held in Gaza, Israel’s military has taken painstaking care to avoid civilian casualties.

Although Israel has repeatedly warned innocent Gazans to leave Hamas locations and targets, Hamas is actively working to prevent the evacuation of innocent Palestinians in order to utilize them as human shields. In fact, Hamas has even taken active steps to prevent foreign nationals from evacuating through the Rafah Border Crossing, the only remaining way out of Gaza.

In order to protect noncombatants and civilians in Gaza from Hamas’s brutality, the members are calling on the Egyptian government to urgently work with the United States, Israel, and relevant international stakeholders to take all measured and appropriate steps to support and facilitate safe zones in southern Gaza and enable a steady supply of humanitarian assistance to flow from Egypt towards those in the safe zones until the civilian population is able to return to the north of the Gaza Strip.

Egypt is a major global player and a consistent security partner to the United States. Egypt’s partnership with the Israeli government since 1980 has played a valuable role in preserving peace and security in the region for decades.

Read the full letter here and below:  

The Honorable Motaz Zahran  

Ambassador of Egypt to the United States  

3521 International Court NW  

Washington, D.C. 20008 

Dear Ambassador Zahran,

As members of the U.S. House of Representatives, we are writing to you to express our outright condemnation of the recent terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas and its terrorist partners. Given these events, we strongly encourage the government of Egypt to engage constructively with the United States, Israel, and relevant international stakeholders to establish and maintain safe zones in southern Gaza, with humanitarian access corridors, for civilians seeking refuge from the fighting in the north of the Strip. 

Israel has the well-established right and responsibility to respond to these vicious attacks. We unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself, take necessary measures in support of its national security, and rescue the nearly 200 hostages currently being held in Gaza. As in previous conflicts, we also note that Israel’s military operations inside Gaza are designed to avoid civilian casualties. Israel has repeatedly encouraged innocent Gazans to leave Hamas locations and targets in the northern part of the Strip and has established an intelligence- driven process to target terrorist activity, limit civilian casualties, establish corridors for safe passage, and adhere to the laws of armed conflict.

In contrast, Hamas shamefully disregards international humanitarian law and the rules of war by intentionally targeting civilians, taking hostages, using human shields, and embedding their fighters in civilian communities with utter disregard for their welfare. As the controlling authority in the Gaza Strip, Hamas locates its infrastructure and command centers within civilian homes, schools, and hospitals. Hamas routinely launches rockets and mortars from residential neighborhoods. Hamas and other organizations such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have done everything in their power to maximize the danger and suffering of the civilians over which they have governing responsibility, publicly threatening residents and preventing them from evacuating combat areas. These heinous actions are intentional, irrefutable, and inexcusable. They are also clear violations of the laws of armed conflict.

We are also deeply concerned for the innocent civilian lives Hamas intentionally puts in harm’s way, and the rapidly growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza driven by Hamas’s brutality. Although Israel has repeatedly warned Gazans to leave Hamas locations and targets, Hamas is actively working to prevent the evacuation 

of innocent Palestinians in order to use them as human shields. In fact, Hamas has even taken active steps to prevent foreign nationals from evacuating through the Rafah Border Crossing, the only remaining way out of Gaza.

In order to protect noncombatants and civilians in Gaza from Hamas’s brutality, we call on the Egyptian government to urgently work with the United States, Israel, and relevant international stakeholders to 1) take all measured and appropriate steps to support and facilitate safe zones in southern Gaza and 2) enable a steady supply of humanitarian assistance to flow from Egypt towards those in the safe zones until the civilian population is able to return to the north of the Strip. We are optimistic that the international community will participate in providing financial assistance for this humanitarian situation, but Egypt’s robust participation is essential to the success and the safety and security of up to two million Gazans who are desperately in need of such support. Further, we call upon those states that have been long-standing intermediaries for Hamas, especially Qatar and Türkiye, to help as well.

Egypt is a major global player and a consistent security partner to the United States. We urge Egypt to recognize its humanitarian responsibility to protect innocent lives. Egypt’s partnership with the Israeli government since 1980 has played a valuable role in preserving peace and security in the region for decades. We call upon your government once again to maintain this commitment to partnership and quickly take action to support civilians effectively being held hostage by Hamas.

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