President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met with president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, discussing ways to revive the peace process in order to reach a two-state solution, according to the a statement by the Egyptian presidency.
The meeting comes as part of ongoing coordination efforts regarding latest developments in the Palestinian issue, presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef said in a statement.
The Palestinian president expressed his keenness on meeting with his Egyptian counterpart to brief him on the latest developments in the Palestinian issue before Abbas’ visit to Washington.
He is set to head to Washington on 3 May to meet with US president Donald Trump.
Al-Sisi asserted the importance of the US returning to play an important role in pushing for negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, according to the presidency.
Al-Sisi had met Trump in early April in Washington.
“Egypt supports Palestinians in establishing their independent state within the borders of June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the statement read.
The “1967 Borders” refers to the armistice lines from before June 1967’s Six Day War, when Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, along with other territories, expanding its territory beyond the “Green Line” borders delineated by a 1949 armistice between Israel and several Arab nations.
The Palestinian-Israeli negotiations were stopped in April 2014 after Israel had refused to stop the building of settlements, committing to a two-state solution within the borders of June 1967, and releasing the Palestinian prisoners.
Meanwhile, at least 1,500 Palestinian captives have gone on hunger strike to protest their worsening conditions in Israeli jails, which include isolation, no visits from relatives, and self-payment of medical expenses.
The meeting did not discuss Palestinian internal affairs.
