Dr. Badr Abdel-Aati, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs, received Hussein Al-Sheikh, Deputy President of the State of Palestine and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), on Tuesday evening, in the presence of Dr. Majdi Al-Khalidi, Palestinian President’s Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs. The meeting was part of ongoing communications between Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to discuss developments in the Palestinian issue.

The meeting witnessed alignment between both sides on the necessity to intensify regional and international pressure on Israel to stop the brutal war on the Gaza Strip and to accept the ceasefire proposal put forth by Egypt and Qatar, which is based on the proposal of the US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

Minister Abdel-Aati condemned Israel’s policy of starvation against the Palestinian people in Gaza, using famine as a weapon, reiterating Egypt’s firm rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their lands, the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza, and the continuation of genocide crimes against the Palestinian people.

The meeting also addressed developments in the West Bank, where Minister Abdel-Aati denounced the illegal Israeli practices in the West Bank, especially the illegal settlement plans, stressing complete rejection of land confiscation and intimidation campaigns carried out by Israeli settlers against the Palestinian people, expressing Egypt’s firm condemnation of the Israeli settlement plan in the E1 area in the West Bank.

The two sides extensively discussed Egyptian-Palestinian coordination regarding mobilizing international support for expanding recognition of the Palestinian state, during the international conference on implementing the two-state solution hosted by New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings this month. Minister Abdel-Aati praised the intention of several countries to recognize the Palestinian state, reaffirming Egypt’s commitment to continue supporting the Palestinian people’s struggle to establish their inalienable rights, foremost among them the right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.