Israeli occupation of Palestine is the crisis main root: Egypt’s FM

CAIRO - 18 May 2018: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry said that the continuation of the Israeli occupation of Palestine is the root of the crisis and the reason for Palestinians’ tragedies and sufferings.

“Time has come to turn this dark page of the region’s history, and meet the Palestinians hopes and wishes to live in peace,” Shoukry said during his speech at the opening session of the meeting.

Shoukry assured that the U.S.’s decision to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is null and void, affirming that Jerusalem will remain the capital of Palestine.

On May 15, Palestine called for an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the accelerating events and violence that has been taking place in Gaza for several days.

Several countries have condemned Israeli violence against Palestinians including Egypt, which has been struggling recently to bring peace to Palestinians through finding a political solution.

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov also called on the international community to support Egypt's stance and aid Palestine not only to survive these escalations but to reach a political solution that guarantees peace and stability for the Palestinian people.

“This cycle of violence in Gaza needs to end. For it to end, we need each one of us to prevent an explosion that will drag everyone in the region into another deadly confrontation. The international community must step in and prevent war; we need to move forward quickly and effectively on all projects that we have been discussing for months and months to solve the energy, water and health crises of the population. We can only do this in coordination with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. But before all that, the senseless violence needs to stop,” Mladenov said during his briefing to the Security Council on the situation in Gaza on May 15.

Furthermore, UK’s Minister of State for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, condemned violence in Gaza and the West Bank, and called it "shocking". “The loss of life and the large number of injured Palestinians is tragic, and it is extremely worrying that the number of those killed continues to rise,” his statement read.