Fellow-citizens,

As I am talk to you now, the Israeli aggression on Lebanon is still going, exceeding all red lines targeting the people of Lebanon as well as its infrastructure and violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The heinous carnage against innocent civilians in Qana is a witness of the flagrant violation by Israel of the international law and the slipping of its aggression on Lebanon into perilous grounds.

Egypt strongly condemns this heinous carnage and calls for an urgent international investigation to unveil its circumstances to hold Israel responsible for this heinous aggression.

Egypt equally condemns the consequences of the ongoing Israeli aggression, leaving behind large number of martyrs and injured people and displacing hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people.

I had warned at the outbreak of the crisis of its grave repercussions on the security and stability of the Middle East and the world.

I confirmed that the Israeli aggression was not the way to deal with the current crisis and that there was a dire and urgent need for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire that would open the door for international efforts to end the crisis and address its causes.

Egypt expresses its regret and concern for the failure to reach an immediate ceasefire. The Rome meeting last week failed to reach this goal. So did the Security Council also fail to promptly and effectively address the Israeli aggression and to take up its responsibility for maintaining world peace and security.

This default and failure to act only reflect the fundamental imbalances in the collective security system represented by the United Nations and the inefficiency of the current deficiency of the world order. Egypt has repeatedly warned against this and called for its correction.

The fact that the Israeli aggression on Lebanon was launched concomitantly with a similar aggression on the Palestinian people in the occupied territories proves that the fact that the deadlock of the peace process was the core and the crux of the problem.

This underscores the need to reconsider the course of the peace efforts and to honestly assess the causes of their deadlock and failures.

The current crisis also underlines the urgent need to revive the peace process on all tracks through serious efforts, cognizant of the gravity of the situation in the Middle East and its implications for the security and stability of the region and the world as a whole.

Egypt that had launched the peace process warns that its collapse could have grave consequences and that the Israeli aggression could undermine chances of its continuation and success.

Egypt will sustain its efforts to support Lebanon and its people with all their sects without discrimination. Egypt calls for respecting the country's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of its people. It also calls for an immediate and unconditional halt of the Israeli aggression on people of Lebanon, its gains and infrastructure.

We will pursue in our moves and contacts with all the regional and international parties to stop this aggression.

I have given my instructions to the Foreign Minister to intensify efforts at both regional and international levels, to follow up the ongoing move of the United Nations and to strongly and clearly voice Egypt's constant stance on the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

Similar instructions were given to continue effective contributions to meet urgent needs of the government and people of Lebanon and underscore Egypt's readiness to make available all its capacities for reconstructing the facilities, utilities and infrastructure ravaged by the Israeli aggression.

Fellow-citizens,

The people of Egypt have always been, and will always remain, a buttress to its nation.

I call upon every Egyptian to contribute to pooling the required support for the brotherly people of Lebanon. Thus, the government and people of Egypt can stand shoulder to shoulder with this people in their current ordeal and to back and help them with the reconstruction process.
May Allah preserve Lebanon and its people.

May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon you.