CAIRO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the Gaza war, with both leaders pledging closer coordination as the conflict deepens, the Egyptian presidency said.
Sisi welcomed France's plan to formally recognize the State of Palestine in September, calling it "significant progress toward achieving justice for the Palestinian people and enabling them to obtain their full rights," according to the statement.
He briefed Macron on Egypt's efforts to secure a ceasefire, broker the release of hostages and detainees, and speed humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is worsening. Sisi reiterated Egypt's opposition to any attempt to displace Palestinians or undermine their right to an independent state on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Macron expressed support for Egypt's mediation and stressed the need for a "just and comprehensive settlement" of the conflict based on a two-state solution and international resolutions. He also underlined the urgency of reconstruction in Gaza.
Macron said in July that France would extend recognition to Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September, making France the first major country in the West to take such a step. More than 75 percent of the UN's 193 member states have already recognized Palestine, though the United States and other Western allies have not. ■
