Two informed Egyptian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that Cairo is seeking to hold a quadripartite meeting between Egypt, Palestine, Jordan and Israel before next year.
The sources said the planned meeting comes within Cairo's efforts to find common ground regarding Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s initiative to hold an international peace conference to solve the Palestinian issue based on foundations that enjoy international consensus within the framework of the "two-state solution."
Abbas had called for the conference last September before the United Nations General Assembly and also submitted a request in October to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to prepare for the conference.
Egypt kicked off efforts to help organize the conference by choosing specialized experts to discuss the issues related to the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Also, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had received his Palestinian counterpart in Cairo in November after which he issued a statement confirming Egypt's full support for Palestine and its stance towards a political settlement.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, political sources revealed Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to visit Egypt and the UAE during December.
According to the sources, Egypt's meeting will take place in Cairo or Sharm el-Sheikh within days, while the visit to Abu Dhabi will take place in two weeks.
Israeli Hayom newspaper highlighted the importance of the visit, saying it will mark the first time in 10 years that an Israeli prime minister "receives an invitation to visit Cairo.”
The sources said Sisi and Netanyahu will discuss a number of regional issues, including strengthening security and political relations in the face of the Iranian threat, and coordinating positions between Tel Aviv and Cairo before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month.
Meanwhile, other Israeli political sources said that the Egyptians were surprised that the visit's details were leaked, contrary to the understandings between the two parties.
The sources noted that there is a possibility that Egypt will postpone the visit or cancel it completely.
