Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri affirmed Monday Egypt’s firm position of supporting the Palestinian cause, the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the importance of moving during the coming period to revive a serious and constructive negotiation path that leads to the aspired goal of achieving comprehensive and just peace.
The foreign minister’s remarks came during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said.
During the meeting, the Palestinian president said that this peace should guarantee the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the relevant international references.
Minister Shoukri also outlined Cairo’s continuous contacts with regional and international partners to achieve the required momentum, the latest of which was the consultation that he had with King Abdullah II of Jordan and his foreign minister in Amman earlier in the day Monday.
Minister Shoukri noted that the visit to Ramallah came in pursuance of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s directives to maintain supporting the brothers in Palestine and to continue the current efforts to establish a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in order to achieve comprehensive and sustainable calm.
This comes along with continuing the necessary efforts to re-launch the peace process as the only way to reach the two-state solution and achieve the desired peace and stability, the minister said.
Minister Shoukri stressed the need to stop all practices that undermine peace opportunities or push again towards escalation, including in East Jerusalem.
For his part, the Palestinian president expressed thanks and appreciation of the Palestinian leadership, government and people for the initiative of President Sisi to announce that Egypt will provide an amount of $500 million for the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip.
He also thanked Egypt for its efforts and intensive moves during the past period, which was crowned with success in resolving the crisis and reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that these positions reflect Egypt’s standing at the Arab, regional and international levels as well as its continuous historical role in support of the Palestinian cause and in defending Arab rights.
While visiting Amman earlier in the day yesterday, Minister Shoukri met King Abdullah II, who expressed appreciation for Cairo’s keenness on maintaining the distinguished bilateral relations with Amman.
For his part, Minister Shoukri voiced Egypt’s full estimation of Jordan’s role in protecting Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem.
He indicated that the current priority is to establish the ceasefire between the Palestinian and Israeli sides and push forward with the reconstruction file in light of the initiative announced by President Sisi.
In this connection, the Jordanian monarch praised the efforts made by Egypt to reach the ceasefire and emphasised the accord of views between Amman and Cairo regarding the Palestinian cause. King Abdullah also stressed the need to intensify efforts aimed at achieving just and comprehensive peace in the region.
At a press conference with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Minister Shoukri also stressed that Egypt is seeking to coordinate with Jordan to develop bilateral relations and address regional challenges.
