Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on Friday, “We are ready for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the June 4 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, which will be demilitarized.”
During a joint press conference with the Prime Ministers of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, and the Prime Ministers of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, Sisi expressed his hope for the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state next to Israel, one that features the presence of NATO, the UN, or Arab or American forces to ensure security is in place.
He pointed out that reviving the two-state solution path may not be required.
“Reviving the path over 30 years did not achieve much. We want to be realistic and objective. We will tell you about five rounds of conflict in 20 years, and approximately 27 fell on the Palestinian side. A thousand civilians, most of them women and children, and I hope we will not ignore that,” he explained.
Sisi added during the press conference that “We must move on a different path, which is the international community’s recognition of a Palestinian state and its admission to the United Nations.”
The current situation in the Gaza Strip is serious, he noted, including the forced displacement outside the Strip.
Sisi called for safe areas created in all of the Gaza Strip to shelter those who have lost their homes.
The president reiterated his assertion that Egypt did not and will not close the Rafah crossing, and that Israel was the one that obstructed the exit of those stranded with dual nationalities.
“This reflects a real responsibility on the part of the international community and those interested in achieving peace in the region. It is not right that we be subjected to this brutal attack every five years, resulting in casualties,” he stressed.
“The political horizon for resolving the Palestinian issue does not reach the desired level of achieving a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, side by side with the Israeli state,” Sisi said.
