Algerian president says army ready to build hospitals in Gaza once Egypt border reopens

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared that the North African country's military was ready to enter Gaza to build three hospitals within 20 days once the border with Egypt would reopen. 

Speaking Sunday during an election rally, Tebboune vowed to also send hundreds of doctors to the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave and "help rebuild what the Zionists destroyed". 

Tebboune, who is running for a second presidential term in an election slated for 7 September, was speaking to supporters in the city of Constantine. 

"Palestine is not the issue of the Palestinians only, it is our issue too," Tebboune told the crowd. 

"Some say this cohesion between Palestine and Algeria is meaningless in light of the distance. [But] we are not far, the distance is only geographical, the hearts are with each other," he added.

Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, the Rafah crossing, has been shuttered since Israeli troops invaded it in May. 

Read more: Algeria's Tebboune says army ready to build hospitals in Gaza once Egypt border reopens