Egypt’s FM voices support to UNRWA’s efforts to relieve Palestinian refugees’ suffering

CAIRO – 24 September 2020: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry hailed the prominent humanitarian role played by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian refugees, as he met with the agency’s commissioner-general.

This comes as Shoukry earlier arrived in the Jordanian capital of Amman, to participate in the quadripartite ministerial meeting on developments in the Palestinian issue and opportunities to advance peace efforts in the Middle East.

Shoukry voiced support to the UNRWA and affirmed the need to continue to exert international efforts to ensure that the agency’s vital services, especially in the fields of education, health and relief, continue to be carried out, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said in a brief statement.

Commissioner-General of the UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini, for his part, expressed appreciation for Egypt’s stance supporting the agency and for the country’s continuous efforts to back the Palestinian issue and establish peace in the Middle East, according to the statement.

Giving a speech at the United Nations’ 75th General Assembly on Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi asserted the Palestinian right to have an independent state.

“If we seek to execute the International calls, realize permanent peace and security in the Middle East, then we have to support the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to have an independent state with eastern Jerusalem as its capital,” Sisi stated.

Earlier in Septemebr, Sisi said that he supports any steps that would bring peace to the whole region while maintaining the rights of the Palestinians and security of Israel, during a phone call with Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sisi hailed the US-sponsored UAE-Israeli deal. He also affirmed the necessity of refraining from taking any unilateral measures that would undermine the peace process, especially annexing any Palestinian lands.

Sisi explained that avoiding these measures would allow the resumption of negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, in order to reach a fair and comprehensive conclusion on the basis of a two-state solution and in accordance with international references.

Sisi also stressed during the call on the importance of adhering to the Palestinian-Israeli truce on the Gaza Strip, in light of Egypt's continuous efforts to reduce tension between the two sides.