Israel, Egypt hold Gaza talks on UN sidelines

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met in New York on Wednesday to discuss Gaza and reviving peace talks with the Palestinians, off i ci al s said.

During the meeting, which lasted nearly two hours and took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the two “discussed regional developments and the situation in Gaza”, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

In recent months, mass protests along Gaza’s border with Israel have triggered repeated deadly clashes with the army, prompt ing warnings of t he risk of a new conf lict.

On Tuesday, the World Bank warned that the Gaza Strip’s economy is i n “f ree fa l l” as cuts to aid and sa laries add to a n a l ready cr ippl i ng Israel i blockade on the Hamas-run enclave.

Ga za l ies bet ween Isr ael and Eg y pt, which a long with the UN has been seek ing to br oker a long-ter m t r uc e bet ween Israel a nd Hamas, but t hose ef forts have sta lled in recent weeks.

Netanyahu and Sisi also discussed “ways to revive the peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians, a statement from the Egyptian president’s office said.

Sisi told Netanyahu that “a final and just settlement to the Palestinian issue would contribute to providing a new situation in the Middle East”, the statement said.

Both Netanyahu and Palest i n ia n president Ma h mud Abbas were due to address the UN General Assembly later on Thursday.

A day earlier, US President Donald Trump met the Israel i prem ier a nd pledged to present a “ver y fa ir” Middle East peace plan by the end of t he year.

Trump also said explicitly for the first time that he backed a two-state solution to the conflict, a comment that failed to impress either side.

The Palestinians said it f lew in t he face of his administrat ion’s act ions over t he past yea r, whi le Neta nya hu told Israel i jou r na l ists he would ne v er r el i nqu i s h s e c u r it y control over the West Bank.

Egypt is also mediating reconci l iat ion t a l k s bet ween Hamas and Abbas’s secular Fata h movement a decade after a bloody split.

Eg y pt was t he f i r st A r ab countr y to sign a peace treat y wit h t he Israel in 1979.

Neta nya hu a nd Sisi have met on several occasions since the Eg y ptian leader came to power.