Foreign Minister visits Ramallah

Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr visited Ramallah on 30 December, 2012, a month after  the historic victory achieved within the UN General Assembly through  upgrading the status of Palestine to a non-member state.

 The Minister visited Ramallah emphasizing two important messages, Egypt congratulating the Palestinian people on the occasion of upgrading their  position at the United Nations, and Egypt's strong will to reach a thorough Palestinian national reconciliation at the earliest convenience. The visit was a supporting and consolidating message from the people of Egypt to the Palestinian people.

 During the visit Minister Amr delivered an invitation extended from President Mohamed Morsy to the Palestinian President Mahmoud     Abbas to visit Cairo to take the steps towards achieving the Palestinian national reconciliation.  The Palestinian president accepted the invitation and promised to visit Egypt in the near future. The Minister stressed that Egypt has taken upon itself an additional duty to support the Palestinian people and their fair cause of achieving  reconciliation between the Palestinian brothers.

 The Minister met during his visit with some  of the Palestinian prisoners’ families, some  had been released during the “Shalit" prisoners exchange  deal before being re-arrested by Israel, while others had unlawfully been  put under administrative detention by the occupation authority unlawfully.

The Minister indicated that Egypt that played a pivotal role in the  "Shalit”  prisoners exchange  deal  , would deliberate the current situation of such  agreement  legally and technically as well as  measures to  be taken to stimulate the Israelis to stand by their pledges.  He highlighted  as well, that the current situation of the Palestinian prisoners is unacceptable, adding that concerted efforts should be intensified to make the international community aware of  this tragedy.

 The Minister  visited Talet el Masyoun and listened to an explanation from Dr.  Salam Fayyad around the Separation Wall Israel built within the Palestinian territories.