Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi underscored on Saturday Cairo’s “firm” stance on the Palestinian cause, calling for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state according to international resolutions.
Sisi held talks in Cairo on Saturday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of an extraordinary Arab League foreign ministers meeting aimed at addressing US President Donald Trump’s divisive peace plan.
There can be no substitute to direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, said a statement released after Sisi and Abbas’ meeting.
It stressed the need to reach an agreement on a sustainable settlement that ends the suffering of the Palestinian people, restores all of their legitimate rights and allows them to live in security, stability and peace.
Sisi added to Abbas that Egypt has always been leading efforts to achieve comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East.
For his part, Abbas expressed his appreciation to Egypt’s sincere efforts in supporting the Palestinian cause, hailing Cairo’s historic role to that end.
He also hailed its “intense efforts to push forward national reconciliation and trust building between Palestinian factions in order for them to unite their ranks during this critical time.”
The Palestinian Authority is keen on ending this division, he stated.
On Friday, Abbas held talks with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who stressed that Arab nations and the Palestinians will succeed in responding to the US peace plan.
He slammed the plan as a “call to surrender”.
Aboul Gheit expressed confidence that the Palestinians will not surrender and that the Arab nation would resist and reject this proposal because it fall short of Palestinian demands, reiterating support for the 2002 Arab peace initiative.
Abbas had rejected the peace plan shortly after it was unveiled on Tuesday.
“We say a thousand no's to the Deal of The Century," he declared.
“We will not kneel and we will not surrender,” Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through “peaceful, popular means.”
The plan, which is heavily biased towards Israel, would create a Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank, but would allow Israel to annex nearly all of its settlements in the occupied territory. It would allow the Palestinians to establish a capital on the outskirts of east Jerusalem but would leave most of the city under Israeli control.
