Egypt’s president calls for establishing 'demilitarized' Palestinian state

CAIRO

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Friday called for establishing a Palestinian state “demilitarized with guarantees and the presence of European, American or UN forces.”

This came in a joint press conference held in Cairo with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo after a meeting to discuss developments in the Gaza Strip, according to Egypt’s official MENA news agency.

“There must be a Palestinian state according to the June 4 (1967) borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, side by side with Israel,” al-Sisi said.

“We are ready for this state to be demilitarized, and for there to be guarantees of the presence of forces, whether from NATO, the United Nations, or Arab or American forces, so that we can achieve security for both states, the nascent Palestinian state and the Israeli state," he said.

The Egyptian president stressed "the necessity of recognizing the Palestinian state by the international community and bringing it into the United Nations."

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat