Egypt’s Sissi hosts Jordan, Palestinian leaders to discuss Israel-Saudi Arabia ties

Egypt’s president earlier today welcomed the Palestinian and Jordanian leaders, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s spokesman says, with a source adding that they discussed speculations over Saudi Arabia moving to normalize ties with Israel.

Sissi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the northern coastal city of El Alamein, Egyptian presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy says.

During a tripartite meeting, the leaders discussed “the development of the Palestinian cause” and expressed their support for a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with East Jerusalem as the future Palestinian capital, Fahmy says in a later statement.

But while there is no mention of the topic of potential Israeli-Saudi normalization in the official statement, a Palestinian source close to the matter tells AFP that it is the key topic on the table.

The summit was held “to discuss US efforts to achieve normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and the Palestinian Authority’s requirements in the framework of the signing of such a deal,” the source says.