Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during a meeting with Tor Wennesland on Monday (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
In a meeting with Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Shoukry said these Israeli incursions in the West Bank result in fatalities and injuries, which exacerbates tensions and resentment between the two sides, according to a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry.
FM Shoukry reviewed with the UN coordinator ongoing Egyptian efforts to restore calm on the ground, including Egypt's contributions in the high-level multi-party security meetings that were held in Aqaba and Sharm El-Sheikh earlier this year, as well as under the Munich Group mediation efforts.
Shoukry stressed the need to implement the understandings reached during the Aqaba and Sharm El-Sheikh inorder to reduce the current tension.
The top Egyptian diplomat also urged more concerted regional and international efforts, including in the United Nations, in order to stop the continuous escalation in the occupied territories and create a new climate conducive to reviving the peace process.
For his part, Wennesland praised Egypt's role in the peace process as pivotal.
He added that he looks forward to continuing coordination with Egypt in order to break the current stalemate in the peace process, stop the violence between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and restore hope for a final, comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian cause.
Since the start of the year, at least 157 Palestinians have been killed during Israeli raids into the occupied West Bank, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.
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