Egypt, Jordan, Palestine Foreign Ministers to meet in Cairo

CAIRO - 19 August 2017: The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Palestine will meet in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abou Zeid in a press release.

This will be the second meeting on coordination mechanisms between the three countries, the first meeting was held in Jordan’s capital, Amman on May 14.

Abou Zeid pointed out that the aim of the meeting was for the three foreign ministers to consult on means of supporting the Palestinian case, coordinating positions and exchanging visions, before the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.

This meeting comes also ahead of the visit to the region by a US delegation, which includes the US envoy to the peace process, Jason Greenblatt, the chief adviser to US President, Jared Kushner, and the deputy national security adviser for strategic affairs, Dina Powell.

Since July 14, Palestinians were boycotting prayers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque as a position expressing their rejection and protest against the new Israeli forces’ security measures that included placing metal detection gates and smart surveillance cameras at the entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque to monitor Palestinian worshippers.

On 25 July, Israel removed the metal detectors at the entrances to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, after wide protests and clashes with Palestinians who refused Israelis trespassing their rights in the holy site.

The stand-off at the holy site - known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount - has provoked some of the worst bloodshed in Jerusalem for years, with peace efforts having stagnated since 2014.

Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians in fighting in the cramped streets of East Jerusalem in the last week, and a Palestinian stabbed three Israelis to death in their home.