FM Stresses Necessity to Achieve Immediate, Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza, Lebanon

The Egypt Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdel-Aty stressed, Friday, the need to achieve an immediate, comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and to avoid the region's slide into a regional war and contain the dangerous escalation.

This came during the Secretary of State's reception today with US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs John Bass, on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Minister Abdel Aty expressed satisfaction with the development of bilateral relations between the two countries in light of the holding of the strategic dialogue chaired by the two foreign ministers in Cairo recently in order to achieve the common interests of the two friendly countries and peoples.

During the meeting, they discussed the dangerous developments in the Middle East in light of the escalation of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and the continuation of the aggression against the Palestinian people.

The discussions touched on developments in Somalia, where Abdel Aty explained Egypt's firm position on respecting the sovereignty of Somalia, preserving its unity and territorial integrity and rejecting any external interference in its affairs, and the importance of achieving stability in Somalia by supporting state institutions, and supporting the efforts of the Federal Somali government aimed at achieving security, combating terrorism and enforcing state sovereignty on its territory.

The issue of water security and the Ethiopian dam was addressed, where Minister Abdel Aty stressed the importance of this issue for Egypt as it is an existential issue directly related to Egyptian national security and cannot be tolerated.

The minister also affirmed the rejection of any unilateral practices that harm the interests of the two downstream states and violate stable international rules in the governance of transboundary waters.