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Shoukry, Wennesland Discuss Latest Developments in Palestinian Cause

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during his meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, in Cairo on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during his meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, in Cairo on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Shoukry, Wennesland Discuss Latest Developments in Palestinian Cause

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during his meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, in Cairo on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during his meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, in Cairo on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland in Cairo on Wednesday.

Shoukry underscored Cairo’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and efforts to achieve peace in the region.

In late May, Cairo underscored the importance of halting all measures and actions that target the Arab Islamic and Christian identity of Jerusalem and its sanctities, and aim at changing the historical and legal status quo of the city.

Shoukry warned then that the escalation affects the stability of the Palestinian territories.

This came during his meeting with the Secretary-General of the Fatah Central Committee, Jibril Rajoub.

The FM reiterated that the continued expansion of settlement activity, whether through building new settlements or expanding existing ones, the confiscation of lands and the displacement of Palestinians, undermine the chances of reaching a two-state solution and the prospect for establishing a comprehensive and just peace in the region.

He further confirmed Egypt’s firm position on supporting the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

He underlined the need to hold talks to revive the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and reach a political solution that would end the Israeli occupation of Palestine along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In February, Cairo renewed its commitment to support Gaza’ reconstruction efforts. s

Its Permanent Representative to the UN Osama Abdelkhalek told the relevant UN committee that the Palestinian people should exercise their inalienable rights.

He affirmed that his country invested $500 million in projects to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, noting that Egyptian companies have started implementing these projects.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.