Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday, as part of the regional diplomatic effort to stop violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
The call focused on regional security and the “current escalation” following a surprise Hamas attack that has led to hundreds of deaths in Gaza and southern Israel, the Egyptian government said. Sources in Israel put the growing death toll at 600, including dozens of young people attending a music festival in the desert, while 100 people are believed to be hostages. Palestinian officials said another 300 were killed in Gaza.
“The two leaders agreed to continue and intensify consultations and coordination between Egypt and Jordan so as to boost efforts toward achieving calm,” the Egyptian statement said. “This shall lead to advancing the process of a comprehensive and just settlement for the Palestinian issue, based on the two-state solution.”
El-Sisi has spoken with a number of international leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron of France. Egypt’s foreign minister also spoke with counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States. Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, said Sunday that U.S. citizens are believed to be among those killed or taken hostage.
South Africa’s foreign ministry was among many calling for an end to hostilities that began with the attack, considered the worst in Israel since 1973 and possibly since the founding of the nation in 1948. The Israeli Knesset approved a declaration of war as the fighting continued a second day.
“The new conflagration has arisen from the continued illegal occupation of Palestine land, continued settlement expansion, desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Christian holy sites, and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people,” said South African officials. “The region is in desperate need of a credible peace process.”
In Cairo, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, also called for a ceasefire while placing blame on the international community for failing to secure a lasting solution in the Middle East in “the absence of any real reaction to the provocative policies of the Israeli right against Islamic sanctities and against the two-state solution.”
Gheit was headed for Moscow and talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday.
Image: Strategic Crisis Management Center/Government of Egypt
The post Egypt’s Sisi at center of regional security talks on Hamas attack first appeared on Africa Times.
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