Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi affirmed on Friday that the future Palestinian state could be demilitarized with the presence of temporary international security forces to ensure security for both Palestine and Israel.
During a joint press conference in Cairo with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Sisi stated, “We said that we are ready for this state to be demilitarized and also with guarantees of forces, whether these forces are from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or forces from the United Nations or Arab forces or American forces as you want, to achieve security for both states, the established Palestinian state and the state of Israel.”
Sisi added that the political solution, which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with its capital in East Jerusalem, is still distant.
Arab countries rejected proposals to send an Arab force to provide security in the Gaza Strip after the current Israeli military operation against Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007.
The Egyptian president also stated that the two-state solution “has exhausted its ideas” and called for “recognizing the Palestinian state.”
Sisi emphasized the need to move “differently, which is recognizing the Palestinian state and introducing it to the United Nations.” He added, “There must be a different move, which is the recognition of the Palestinian state and its entry into the United Nations… this gives seriousness.”
Sisi’s remarks come on the day a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip went into effect, accompanied by the release of detainees held by Hamas and other Palestinian factions in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.