CAIRO, August 20. /TASS/. Once a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is agreed to, it will open the door for widespread international recognition of the Palestinian state, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said.
"The Gaza ceasefire should mark the beginning of widespread international recognition for Palestine because the implementation of the two-state principle as a solution to the Palestinian problem guarantees stability in the region," presidential spokesman, Ahmed Fahmy, quoted him as saying at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Egypt’s El Alamein on his Facebook page (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).
According to the Egyptian president, it is time "to put an end to the ongoing war and listen to the voice of reason" to prevent the "expansion of the regional conflict, the consequences of which are hard to imagine."
The top US diplomat informed the Egyptian president about the results of his recent visit to Israel and pledged that his country would continue working to get a ceasefire deal done. El-Sisi and Blinken also exchanged views on the latest round of Gaza talks in Doha and what must be done to "achieve progress at the upcoming consultations in Cairo."
Another round of Gaza ceasefire and hostage release consultations was held in Doha on August 15 and 16. The leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States said in their joint statement after the talks, which was released by Fahmy, that the talks had been held in a positive atmosphere and the sides agreed to hold their next meeting in Cairo the following week. Technical groups will continue work on mechanisms of the implementation of key provisions of the future agreement, including those concerning the exchange of hostages held in the Gaza Strip for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, as well as the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
Following his visit to Israel and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 19, Blinken told journalists that the Israeli prime minister had accepted the proposal to resolve differences at the talks. Now, in his words, it is up to Hamas to do the same.