Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres. The meeting was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Major General Abbas Kamel, Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini and UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova.
The Spokesman for the Presidency, Counselor Ahmed Fahmy, said the meeting addressed many international and regional issues, with emphasis on developments in the Gaza Strip.
President El-Sisi reviewed the intensified efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire, exchange captives, and implement sufficient humanitarian aid to relieve those afflicted in the Gaza Strip, whether by land, in coordination with the relevant UN agencies, or through air drops, particularly over northern areas of the Gaza Strip.
President El-Sisi appreciated the positions of the UN Secretary-General on the ongoing crisis, his keenness to adhere to the principles of international law and international humanitarian law, and his continued activity to urge the international community to act to end the war and protect civilians. The President stressed that it was important for the Security Council to assume its responsibilities in that regard and emphasized the danger of the suspension of funding by some countries to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is considered collective punishment of innocent Palestinians.
The UN Secretary-General expressed his great appreciation for Egypt’s regional role as a pillar for stability, praising its efforts to advance a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as well as its commitment to keeping the Rafah border crossing open continuously over the past months since the start of the current crisis. He referred to his visit to the Rafah crossing yesterday and praised the huge Egyptian effort for leading and operating the process of delivering aid to the people of Gaza, despite the severe obstacles and difficulties. He reiterated the importance of a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes to enable the delivery and effective distribution of aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.
Views were aligned on the gravity of the situation and the need to avoid fueling factors that could widen the scope of the conflict. This is in addition to the complete and categorical rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their lands, as well as rejecting and warning against any military operation in the Palestinian city of Rafah, given its catastrophic consequences on the already dire situation. President El-Sisi and the UN Secretary-General emphasized the inevitability of the two-state solution as the only path to achieve justice, security, and stability in the region, and the need to create conditions conducive for its implementation.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.