Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said on Sunday that the systematic Israeli violations and crimes aim to empty the city of Jerusalem from its Palestinian people, warning of Israeli attempts to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On Sunday, Al-Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and King Abdullah II of Jordan participated in the high-level Supporting Jerusalem conference, which was held at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo.
He stressed that Egypt will spare no effort in defending the legitimate rights of the long-suffering Palestinian people.” He pointed out, “Egypt continues to work with both sides of the conflict to revive the political track and to continue efforts to deal with immediate challenges, and calm in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
During his speech, the Egyptian president called on the “government and people” of the Israeli occupation state to “integrate and coexist” among the peoples of the region.
“International law and UN resolutions, as no city has been concerned before, have concerned the legal status of the city of Jerusalem…All legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel as a force of occupation, which could alter the features or status of the Holy City, have no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Al-Sisi said.
The Egyptian president reiterated affirmation of his country’s firm position regarding the rejection and condemnation of any Israeli measures to change the existing historical and legal status of the city of Jerusalem and its sanctities.
He also expressed his regret that the meeting comes amid unilateral measures that contravene international legitimacy continue, such as settlement, demolition of homes, displacement and confiscation of lands, systematic Judaization of Jerusalem, illegal incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as the continuous incursions into Palestinian cities in a way that increases tension on the ground and threatens the security situation to deteriorate.
“It also increases regret that all of the above impedes the two-state solution. It puts the two parties, and the entire Middle East, in front of difficult and dangerous choices.”
In his speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that supporting Jerusalem and strengthening the steadfastness of those stationed in it and in its environs is a religious duty and a humanitarian and national necessity that must be fulfilled.
He pointed out that the State of Palestine “will go in the next few days to the UN and its various bodies, to demand the issuance of a resolution confirming the protection of the two-state solution by granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations, stopping unilateral actions, especially settlement activities, and adherence to signed agreements and resolutions of international legitimacy, and calling for an international peace conference.”
“We have been subjected in the past – and we are still – to the largest falsification of our history, and they said that it is ‘a land without a people for a people without a land’, but the truth is that they wanted it to become a land without a people by displacing its people through the crimes and massacres that they committed against our people,” Abbas added.
In turn, Jordan’s King said that the region cannot enjoy peace, stability, and prosperity while the Palestinian cause is stagnant, noting that “the Palestinian cause will remain at the forefront of Arab issues.”
King Abdullah II emphasized the need to unite Arab efforts to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian brothers on their land. He also stressed that “preserving peace opportunities on the basis of the two-state solution requires stopping all Israeli violations and incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The Jordanian monarch warned against “attempts to divide time and space that hinder the chances of achieving the desired peace,” noting that “any attempt to prejudice the existing historical and legal situation will have negative repercussions on the security and stability of the entire region.”
