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The President of Egypt held talks with the King of Jordan and the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Cairo to revive the Middle East peace process and strengthen the ceasefire to prevent the recent escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.
According to a statement from Sisi’s office, Egypt’s Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Thursday. The elusive two-state solution.
The statement said that the three leaders pledged to “work together to refine the vision, activate efforts aimed at resuming negotiations, and work with brothers and partners to revive the peace process.”
The three leaders stated that the Palestinians have the right to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel firmly opposes such a plan and claims that Jerusalem is its capital.
In his speech at the Cairo talks, Abbas said that although the escalation of Israel’s “aggression” has made it impossible to achieve a two-state solution in accordance with international law, the Palestinian Authority is committed to a peaceful approach.
According to an article published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, he said: “We are once again ready to work at this stage and prepare the atmosphere by adopting confidence-building measures including achieving total calm on Palestinian land.”
Relations remain tense, even though Israel’s new coalition government (including for the first time a political party led by Israeli Palestinian citizens) tried to keep calm after the deadly violence in May.
Hamas, the Palestinian organization that rules the besieged Gaza Strip, responded to weeks of tension in occupied East Jerusalem by launching rockets at the city, which triggered a fierce Israeli attack on Gaza.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 260 Palestinians were killed during the conflict, including 67 children and 39 women. Hamas admitted that 80 fighters had died. Twelve civilians, including two children, and one soldier were killed in Israel.
Egypt, which has played a key mediating role between Israel and Hamas for many years, mediated the truce. In recent weeks, stakeholders have intensified diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing the recurrence of military conflicts in the region. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently stated that he will visit Egypt “soon” to hold talks with Sisi.
Last week, after Bennett met with US President Joe Biden in Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
After communication between Abbas and Israeli leaders was almost completely interrupted in recent years, these talks marked a possible shift.
After the meeting, Israel announced a series of gestures aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority, which rules parts of the occupied West Bank. These measures include plans to lend $150 million to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah.
Last month, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamal visited Israel on a rare occasion to discuss the conditions of a long-term ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Carmel also went to the West Bank to meet with Abbas. The United States and Israel hope to support Abbas in the competition with Hamas.
During the meeting on Thursday, the leaders of Egypt and Jordan also reiterated their support for Abbas, warning Israel of the “dangerous consequences” of the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, the demolition of Palestinian houses and the confiscation of land and property. Chairman’s statement.
For his part, Sisi emphasized that the establishment of a Palestinian state requires the unification of all Palestinian factions, the statement added.
Hamas has ruled Gaza since he expelled Abbas’s army in 2007, and a year later it defeated his Fatah party in the Palestinian parliamentary elections.
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