Egypt will do its best to consolidate Israel-Gaza ceasefire: FM Shoukry

MENA , Saturday 22 May 2021

Shoukry said that the Egyptian leadership has had firsthand knowledge of all efforts and contacts to de-escalate tension between the Palestinians and Israelis until the Friday ceasefire was achieved

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. REUTERS

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Cairo will do its best, through its security delegations to the Palestinians and Israelis to consolidate the Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israeli and Gaza and ensure that none of the two sides would breach it in the future.

An Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and the Palestinian factions to end an 11-day military operation in the Gaza Strip. It came into effect as of Friday 21 May at 2am (23:00 GMT) Palestinian time.

Egypt sent two security delegations to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian territories to follow up on the implementation of the ceasefire.In remarks to MBC TV channel over the phone, Shoukry affirmed that the Palestinian cause has always been among the priorities of the Egyptian leadership, government and people.

Shoukry noted that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi makes it a point to closely follow up all Palestinian developments and Egyptians have always stood by their Palestinian brethren and made great sacrifices to support their cause.

Shoukry said that the Egyptian leadership has had firsthand knowledge of all efforts and contacts to de-escalate tension between the Palestinians and Israelis until the Friday ceasefire was achieved.

He noted that since day one of the flare-up of tension in Jerusalem and the ensuing military escalations, the Egyptian focus has been on serving the interest of the Palestinian people and trying to keep them out of harm’s way.

Also, Egypt has been concerned with preserving the Arab identity of Jerusalem and preventing any attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and all other holy sites in the occupied Palestinian lands, whether Islamic or Christian, he added.

Egypt went to great lengths to stand by the brotherly Palestinian people, he said citing the efforts exerted by the Egyptian political, security, intelligence and health authorities.

He said that the world community and international partners, most particularly the US, should return to shouldering their responsibility toward reviving direct Palestinian-Israeli peace talks to reach a lasting just solution to the decades-long conflict and restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinians topped by their rights to independence and statehood.