Sisi commits to keeping Palestinian cause a priority as pessimistic Abbas seeks solutions
The Palestinian cause will always be a priority for Egypt, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi assured Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in Cairo on Saturday.
Mr Abbas, the Palestinian president, was on a three-day visit to Egypt where he was scheduled to speak with Mr El Sisi about Palestinian-Israeli relations and reconciliation efforts between his Fatah party and Hamas, the militant rulers of Gaza.
Mr El Sisi offered assurances that Egypt is committed to advocating for the rights of the Palestinian people under international law, his spokesman said.
Egypt will also continue working with rival factions Hamas and Fatah to achieve greater Palestinian unity, spokesman Bassam Rady said.
The two parties have been at odds since 2007 when Hamas expelled the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority from Gaza, after it contested Hamas’s 2006 election victory in the enclave.
Mr Abbas repeated his belief to Mr El Sisi that a planned US peace deal would not be fair to the Palestinians.
Egypt is trying to mediate between Palestine and Israel to prevent a new conflict in Gaza, but early on Friday Mr Abbas struck a pessimistic tone.
Having served as the president of the Palestinian Authority since 2005, he said the future looked bleak for his people.
The Palestinian Authority ended dialogue with the US after President Trump moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last May, and said it would not be party to Mr Trump’s promised “deal of the century”.
Mr Abbas and Mr El Sisi last met in November in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm Al Sheikh.
Yesterday they were scheduled to attend the inauguration of a mosque and a Coptic Christian cathedral in Egypt’s new administrative capital outside Cairo.