Egypt to US: Palestine must have Eastern Jerusalem as its capital

Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi affirmed to United States (US) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that his country’s stance towards the Israeli-Palestine peace process is to ‘establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 border, with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital’.

In a statement released by the Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi, president Sisi also called on the U.S. to revive the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis.

The top US diplomat is conducting a tour of the Middle East that started in Cairo and will see him discuss the Syrian crisis and Middle East peace with allies in Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait and Lebanon.

Egypt clashed with its powerful ally, the United States when the latter’s president Donald Trump decided to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The decision sparked protests in Egypt and many other Arab countries.

The Peace process between Palestine and Israel has been halted since April 2014, after the conflicting Palestinian factions announced their national unity government.

Tillerson pledged to Sisi that hid government under Trump’s leadership, is to “fairly” solve the case, adding that the administration will resume its efforts to achieve this goal, the statement added.

During his press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Tillerson said “Jerusalem’s borders shall be determined in a later time after intensive talks and discussions between Palestinians and Israelis to put an end to the two-party conflict and resolve the Palestinian cause.”

Tillerson has since moved to Kuwait where he has pronounced that ‘the end of major combat operations against Islamic State does not mean the United States and its allies have achieved an enduring defeat of the militant group’.