Sisi says Egypt will not accept anything against Palestinian wishes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, speaking about the unannounced US Mideast peace plan, said on Sunday that his country would not accept anything undesired by the Palestinians.

Speaking after breaking the Ramadan fast at a hotel in Cairo, Sisi also appeared to dismiss suggestions that Egypt might make concessions as part of the US plan.

The blueprint, still in draft form and billed by US President Donald Trump as the “deal of the century,” jettisons the two-state solution to ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Palestinian and Arab sources.

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It envisages an expansion of Gaza into parts of northern Sinai, under Egyptian control, Palestinian officials have told Reuters.

Referring to the US plan, Sisi said that “Egypt will not accept anything that the Palestinians do not want.”

“You are asking what’s the story and what does Sisi have in mind, and will he give up anything to anyone,” apparently referring to reports that Egypt could be required to allow areas in Sinai adjacent to the Gaza border to be part of the deal.

“Can you imagine that I would give something up. ... But, why?”

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Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been drafting the long-awaited peace plan, the economic aspects of which are to be presented at a conference in Bahrain next month.

The United Nations earlier on Friday said it would not be taking part in that meeting on June 25 and 26 in Manama, AFP reported.

In December 2017, US President Donald Trump broke with decades of bipartisan policy to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in a move that prompted the Palestinians to cut all contacts with his administration.

Israel insists the whole of Jerusalem is its “eternal, indivisible capital.”

The Palestinians demand the city’s eastern sector as the capital of their long promised state.