The foreign minister of Egypt will meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday in a rare visit to Israel with the objective of reviving the waning Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
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Sisi urged Israelis and Palestinians to seize what he said was a “real opportunity” and hailed his own country’s peace deal with Israel.
Sameh Shoukry’s visit to Israel – the first by an Egyptian foreign minister in nine years – follows a similar meeting with Palestinian officials in Ramallah on June 29.
The decision by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing cabinet will allocate the money to “strengthen” the settlements, after what they claimed to be a rise in violence in the area. The last round of USA -led talks broke down two years ago after the sides could not agree on the contours of a future peace deal.
Palestinians are seeking the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as the capital – territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Speaking of his four-country African tour last week, Netanyahu said it advanced Israel’s bid to secure more support at the United Nations.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said he wants to advance peace in the region.
Shoukry warned that worsening conditions for Palestinians threatened to undermine prospects for peace.
Mr Shoukry said the situation in the Middle East was “becoming ever more volatile and risky, particularly as the phenomenon of terrorism continues to grow and proliferate, representing an existential threat to the peoples of the region and the world at large”. In April, Israel’s deputy chief of staff spoke of an “unprecedented level of cooperation” with Egypt, especially in regards to intelligence sharing in the common fight against Islamic State.
Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have expressed their appreciation of al-Sisi’s statements and stressed the importance of involvement of Arab states in the region in attempts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent months.
Mr Netanyahu has said he would seek changes to the Arab proposal.
Shoukry and Netanyahu discussed over two meetings Sunday the results of the ministerial meetings, which took place in Paris last month, as a part of the French initiative to revive the peace process in the Middle East. An Israeli of Ethiopian descent and a Bedouin from Israel’s Arab minority are also believed to be held in Gaza. He said Shoukry “answered in the affirmative”.
“We understand Minister Shoukry’s visit [to Israel] came after his visit to Ramallah and he consulted with us to support the efforts to hold an global peace conference and put reference points for negotiations within the framework of a specific timeline”, said Al Shoubaky.
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Israeli soldiers check a auto as they block vehicles from crossing from the West Bank city of Hebron to Yatta village on July 6, 2016, as Palestinians try to enter the village to visit relatives to celebrate the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.
