Egypt foreign minister in Ramallah for talks with Abbas

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry today in Ramallah to discuss “the latest developments in the Palestinian scene,” the Palestinian Authority official WAFA news agency says.

Shoukry expressed “Egypt’s support for the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people, first and foremost of which is their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent, sovereign state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

“Egypt rejects any unilateral decisions or movements, including Israel’s annexation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank,” the Foreign Ministry says in a statement.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi also spoke with Abbas yesterday, both sides reported. A spokesperson for El-Sissi’s office said the Egyptian leader stressed “the firm principles of Egypt’s position on the Palestinian question, as well as the continuity of close coordination with our Palestinian brothers, with the aim of developing a strategic vision for realizing peace,” according to the Egyptian daily al-Youm al-Sabea.

Shoukry has been doing the rounds in the region. He met Sunday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, as well as Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi. The two sides discussed the coronavirus, regional security cooperation and “the Palestinian cause,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

— Aaron Boxerman