Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in the situation in Gaza and the ongoing Israeli aggression on the besieged strip. The meeting was attended by Egypt's Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty.
During the meeting, Al-Sisi and Séjourné underscored the robust and solid Egyptian-French strategic partnership and commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation across various fields.
Séjourné's visit to Egypt was part of a regional tour aimed at contributing to de-escalation efforts and reducing tensions in the region. The tour, which began in Lebanon, continued in Egypt with a briefing to President Al-Sisi on the results of France's efforts.
The French minister's visit comes as a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks, led by Egypt, the US, and Qatar, ended in Doha in an attempt to end 10 months of fighting in the Palestinian enclave. Egypt, Qatar, and the United States announced Friday in a joint statement that senior officials from the three countries will meet again in Cairo before the end of next week in a new round of talks.
Séjourné commended Egypt's vital role in the joint mediation with Qatar and the United States aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the exchange of hostages.
President Al-Sisi emphasized the vital need for concerted efforts to seize the opportunity offered by the ongoing negotiations to reach an agreement that would prevent further bloodshed and spare the region from the consequences of further escalation.
"It's never too late for peace. We must at all costs avoid a regional war, which would have terrible consequences," Sejourne said in a statement before the visit.
The Egyptian president warned that the continuation of the conflict would plunge the region into a severe and relentless cycle of instability.
He also reiterated the international community's responsibility to exert pressure to reduce escalation and address the root causes of the conflict by establishing a Palestinian state and enforcing the two-state solution. The French Foreign Minister agreed with this stance, confirming his country's full support for these efforts and its commitment to its intensive activities to end the current state of regional tension.
Séjourne said Thursday from Beirut that a ceasefire in Gaza was "necessary" for peace in the region including Lebanon. "We are all worried about the regional situation," Séjourne said after meeting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Lebanon's Hezbollah group.
"We support Lebanon, and in this context and in the context of regional peace, we hope for the ceasefire… in the Gaza Strip, which… will be necessary to guarantee peace in the region," he said.
Fears of an all-out conflict have spiralled since an Israeli strike killed a top Hezbollah commander last month and the assassination of the head of Hamas' Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
