Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in Cairo's endeavours to finalise a Palestinian-Israeli ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, MENA reported. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to arrive in Egypt Friday night. The bilateral meeting will also discuss the planned conference on the reconstruction of the war-torn coastal enclave, expected to be held in Cairo by September, Gamal Al-Shobky, the Palestinian Arab League permanent representative, had previously announced. The death toll since 8 July has reached at least 2,087 Palestinians dead and 67 on the Israeli side. The majority of Palestinian casualties have been civilians while Israeli deaths have primarily been soldiers. This is the second time the two presidents discuss Gaza conflict as Abbas also met with El-Sisi during mid-July in Cairo. Following last month's meeting, they released a joint statement agreeing on the necessity of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to stop the bloodshed and loss of Palestinian lives and assets. Last week, Israel pulled its negotiating team from Cairo ending days of indirect talks with the Palestinians in the Egyptian capital and resumed bombing of Gaza. On Thursday, Abbas had discussed the ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire with both the head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshall and the emir of Qatar Tamim Al-Thani in a meeting in Doha. Source : Ahram online
