Egyptian minister says medical relief should be focused inside Gaza

CAIRO (Reuters) - Efforts to provide medical relief for Palestinians from the Gaza Strip should be concentrated within the besieged coastal enclave, Egypt's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Egypt has received limited numbers of medical evacuees from Gaza this month, most of whom have been taken to Egyptian hospitals for treatment. One group of cancer patients that crossed into Egypt from Gaza was flown to Turkey on Wednesday.

"We have to concentrate on getting medical facilities established inside of Gaza so it can be more accessible to Palestinians who are in need for medical assistance," Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at a briefing for foreign media in Cairo.

Shoukry also said there was no truth to reports that Israel and the United States had pressured Cairo to take in refugees from Gaza in return for debt cancellation, reiterating that Palestinians could not be displaced from their homeland.

"There's absolutely no truth and no possibility of any form of displacement of Palestinians outside their homeland, their current location," he said.

Egypt has repeatedly said it rejects any mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza as Israel's military campaign there has displaced hundreds of thousands of people towards the south of the territory and a humanitarian crisis has deepened.

Shoukry said Egypt remained in continuous contact with Hamas and other international parties to try to secure the release of Israeli hostages that Hamas captured during the Oct. 7 attack that triggered Israel's campaign.

Egypt along with Qatar has been trying to mediate a deal for Israeli hostages to be freed in return for a truce in Gaza as well as the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails and an increase in aid for the besieged enclave.

(Reporting by Sarah El Safty, writing by Aidan Lewis, editing by Philippa Fletcher and Sharon Singleton)