Egypt hosted heads of state and government and representatives from Arab and Western countries on Saturday for a “peace summit” on March 15e Day of the war between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, which is in power in Gaza on the border with Egypt.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, who was in Rafah, the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, will be present on Friday, as will European leaders Charles Michel and Josep Borrell.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as foreign ministers from France, Britain and Germany, will also attend the summit in the new capital on the border with Cairo.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi first announced an international conference on the “future of the Palestinian question” before deciding on a “peace summit.”
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Egypt wants to be at the forefront of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, Cairo has been a traditional mediator between Israel and the Palestinians – particularly Hamas.
Egypt also has the only access to the world in the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel: Rafah. And so on Saturday the delivery of food and humanitarian aid began to Gaza’s 2.4 million people, half of them children, who now live without water, electricity or fuel.
Foreigners and people with dual citizenship from Gaza should also leave for Egypt, as Israel has hermetically sealed the other border crossing for people from Gaza, the Erez border crossing.