Egyptian army chief of staff inspects border with Gaza amid stalled ceasefire talks

CAIRO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) — Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Ahmed Khalifa inspected the security measures on the border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to a statement by the Egyptian military.
Khalifa stressed that the primary mission of the Egyptian armed forces is to safeguard the state’s borders in all strategic directions, adding that “the armed forces are capable of defending the borders of the homeland, generation after generation.”
He also listened to a detailed report on the coordination between various units to ensure complete control over the international border around the clock, the statement added.
Khalifa instructed the forces to remain highly vigilant and get ready for emergencies.
The visit came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed that weapons were being smuggled to Hamas through the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border.
Netanyahu has insisted on Israeli military presence along the corridor, a 14-km-long buffer zone along the border between Egypt and Gaza, claiming that the corridor is a “lifeline” for Hamas to rearm.
Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been leading mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas to end the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 40,800 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis since Oct. 7, 2023, according to official tally from the two sides. However, previous rounds of ceasefire talks have failed to achieve a breakthrough. ■