UN Peace Envoy Arrives in Gaza

United Nations (UN) Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland arrived in Gaza in an official visit. 

It is scheduled that Wennesland will hold talks with Hamas leaders to discuss the ceasefire and current humanitarian situation in Gaza.

This visit comes in light of the ongoing international efforts to establish maintain a ceasefire in Gaza, after the recent military operation by Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip last month.

On Sunday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed his aspiration for the continuation of the European Union’s (EU) role in supporting the Palestinian cause at all levels, as he met with the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Sven Koopmans.

Receiving Koopmans in Cairo, Shoukry affirmed Egypt’s aspiration to continue cooperation with the EU during the coming period to push forward the path for peace in the Middle East, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Their meeting comes a month after Israel and Palestinian factions agreed on an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire ended 11 days of Israeli airstrikes that killed more than 250 and injured thousands of Palestinians.

Shoukry affirmed to Koopmans that Egypt continues to exert efforts to consolidate the ceasefire in the enclave to achieve the desired calm and stability.

These efforts come in parallel with the reconstruction efforts and the efforts to meet the developmental needs of the Palestinian people during the coming period, Shoukry noted.

The Egyptian FM also affirmed the necessity for a real political will and an appropriate climate to revive the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations path urgently and establish an independent Palestinian state.

Shoukry affirmed the need that this Palestinian state is established on the 4 June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The minister also congratulated Koopmans on assuming the post.