The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, will visit Egypt tomorrow Saturday, he announced on Thursday from Washington, calling for support for this country, which may welcome tens of thousands of Palestinians who want to leave the war-torn Gaza Strip.

“Egypt needs support, so let’s support Egypt,” said Mr Michel, in the US capital for a meeting later today with US President Joe Biden, which will also be attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

He clarified that tomorrow he will have talks with the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

On Monday in Tirana, Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union would open a humanitarian air corridor to the Gaza Strip so that its residents “do not pay the price of the brutality of Hamas”.

Mr. Michel said he strongly supports the “leadership role” of US President Biden, who went to Israel last Wednesday and announced that he had secured the cooperation of Cairo to allow about twenty aid trucks to pass through, while reaffirming the EU’s support for his right to Israel “to defend itself” under international law.

The Israeli army and Palestinian organizations blame each other for the bloody attack on Gaza’s Ahli hospital.

The humanitarian aid that Palestinians are waiting for is expected to start entering the Gaza Strip from today, the Egyptian press reported on Thursday, the 13th day of the war between Israel and Hamas triggered by the Palestinian Islamist group’s attack on the Israeli territory on the 7th. October.

The president of the European Council insisted yesterday on the “challenge” posed by the possible mass flow of refugees to Egypt and added that he expects there to be a broad “exchange of information” at today’s meeting.

Asked if Europe was speaking with one voice, he said “the answer is yes”, citing the united position of European leaders after a video conference held on Tuesday night.

The informal meeting was intended to clarify the European position, following criticisms of the message sent by the President of the Commission during her recent trip to Israel.

“We stand by Israel,” assured Mrs. von der Leyen yesterday Thursday in a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington, reiterating that Israel has the right to defend itself in the face of the “terror” attack by Hamas.

Also referring to the war in Ukraine, she emphasized that “these two crises, so different from each other, demanded that Europe and America take a stand and take a stand together” to “protect our democracies”.