Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed on Monday his appreciation for the aid and support Egypt has been providing his country in a phone call with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Egyptian presidency spokesperson Bassam Rady said in a statement. El-Sisi called the 82-year-old Abbas to wish him a speedy recovery after he was hospitalised on Sunday for the third time in a week in the West Bank. Doctors have given conflicting reports about the Abbas' condition, according to Reuters. During the phone call, El-Sisi and Abbas discussed the latest Palestinian political developments and other regional issues. Since the latest violent clashes between the Israeli occupation forces and Palestinian protesters in Gaza, which led to the death of more than 60 Palestinians and the injury of thousands, Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the month of Ramadan. The Rafah crossing is the main gateway to the outside world for 1.8 million Palestinians living in the Israeli-besieged Gaza, and is the only crossing point not controlled by Israel. Egypt has also sent convoys into Gaza with medicine and other aid. The clashes last week started when the high-profile opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem by President Donald Trump's administration raised tensions to a boiling point after weeks of anti-Israeli demonstrations.
