Egypt foreign minister to visit Ramallah for peace plan powwow

Making rare trip, Sameh Shoukry will reportedly also deliver personal note from Egyptian president to Abbas

By Dov Lieber 29 June 2016, 9:43 am

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Dov Lieber is a former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on October 30, 2015 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will travel to Ramallah on Wednesday to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and discuss his country’s role in the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

Shoukry will discuss Egypt’s part in achieving a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, the Palestinian news site Wattan reported.

He is reportedly carrying a personal message from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to Abbas.

While in Ramallah for the rare visit, the Egyptian foreign minister will reportedly discuss the results of a Paris summit earlier this month, in which a group of ministers sought to kick off a regional initiative to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Shoukry, according to the report, will inform the PA president as well as other senior Palestinian officials of the various ideas put forward to advance the peace process during the summit.

Neither Israelis nor Palestinians delegations were invited to the Paris peace summit, in which foreign ministers from regional and powerful Western states were discussed ways to create a sustainable and regional framework in which Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations could be re-ignited.

French President Francois Hollande (C), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (C-L), French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault (C-R), US Secretary of State John Kerry (4th R), European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini (3rd R) and officials pose for a group photo at an international meeting in a bid to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in Paris, on June 3, 2016. (AFP Photo/Pool/Kamil Zihnioglu)

The Paris summit concluded with a warning that violence and settlement activity were imperiling a two-state solution, and a call for an international conference on the issue before the end of the year.

Israel has adamantly rejected the French initiative, arguing that only bilateral talks can lead to progress. The PA has welcomed the initiative.