Egypt’s representative to the United Nations Amr Abul Atta told a UN Security Council session on the Middle East that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is “fertile ground” for Takfirist and other extremist groups.
According to an Egyptian government press release, Atta told the UNSC on Thursday that “there is an international consensus on reaching a lasting and fair solution to the Palestinian issue through the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
However, he continued that the international community and the Security Council “must shoulder its responsibility” and put more pressure on concerned parties, linking the current diplomatic failure to the “terrorism [that] had taken shape in horrific fashion in France”.
He said that “there must be a fair solution to the Palestinian refugees issue within the framework of international legitimacy”, and “the continuation of the international community to deal with the Arab-Israeli conflict without seeking a real solution is no longer bearable”.
It is one in a series of recent statements by Egyptian officials that seeks to link the neighbouring conflict with international instability and extremist attacks.
In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks that struck France last week, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi rang his French counterpart Francois Hollande to express his condemnation of the events, and continued to comment on the necessity of a “just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian issue” to tackle global terrorism in the phone call.
Similarly, on Wednesday President Al-Sisi met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and they spoke on the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a fundamental necessity to bringing stability to the region, and halting the flow of extremists to the region.
Egypt has been pushing to become a key player in international security, and announced its bid for a 2016/2017 Security Council seat on the sidelines of the 2014 UN General Assembly in September.
Egypt attracted international praise for its role in helping to broker a ceasefire during the conflict between Israel and Gaza in August of 2014.
