CAIRO, Jan 30 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, received a phone call from German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, where they discussed the recent Middle East peace plan, announced by U.S. President, Donald Trump, said the Egyptian presidency.
Sisi and Merkel exchanged views on the latest developments of the Palestinian cause, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Middle East peace process, Egyptian Presidency spokesman, Bassam Rady, said.
The two leaders “agreed on the importance of opening channels for dialogue, to resume negotiations with U.S. sponsorship, and presenting visions of the Palestinian and Israeli sides,” Rady added.
They urged for an agreement that would “achieve a comprehensive and just peace, in accordance with the decisions of international legitimacy, return to the Palestinian people all their legitimate rights and support stability and security in the Middle East.”
The Egyptian-German talks came, a day after Trump, with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his side, announced “a new dawn” via a U.S. plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The U.S. peace plan includes Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital, while claiming that the Palestinians’ capital will include areas of East Jerusalem.
On Tuesday, Egypt called on the Palestinians and Israelis to consider the U.S. plan carefully and thoroughly, and to open channels for dialogue under U.S. auspices.
The U.S. peace plan was strongly rejected by the Palestinians, which President Mahmoud Abbas described as a “conspiracy,” saying that “Jerusalem is not for sale” and Trump’s deal “will not pass.”
The decades-long conflict erupted, following the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948.
The United States, Israel’s main backer, officially recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017 and relocated the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the holy city later in May, 2018.
The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 war borders.– NNN-MENA
