Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called on the international community to recognize a Palestinian State, during a press conference with the Prime Ministers of Spain and Belgium in the morning of Friday, Nov. 24.
“There is a need for a different approach, one that involves the international community’s recognition of a Palestinian state and its entry into the United Nations,” El-Sisi said, according to the daily Al Ahram. “The only solution to the Palestinian issue is the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, within the borders of 4 June (1967), with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Significantly El-Sisi said he would be ready to accept a demilitarized Palestinian state, potentially with the presence of international forces—whether from NATO, the United Nations, or American or Arab forces—to guarantee security for both the Palestinian and Israeli states.
Regarding Egypt’s stance on Palestinians’ displacement from Gaza, El-Sisi adamantly reiterated: “We will not permit the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. I sensed a genuine and real understanding by the international community on our rejection of the displacement issue.” El-Sisi expressed the hope that the current four-day truce would be extended to a permanent ceasefire, noting that Egypt, along with the U.S. and Qatar had brokered the current agreement.
The displacement issue was an important point of discussion between El-Sisi and President Joe Biden in a telephone discussion on Nov. 22, in which Biden concurred with the Egyptian President on this point.
