Egypt, Jordan, Palestine foreign ministers discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace process in Cairo

CAIRO - Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine's foreign ministers held talks in Cairo on Monday about how to break the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the state-run Ahram online news portal reported.

At the meeting, also attended by the intelligence chiefs of the three countries, the ministers discussed a possible political roadmap to achieve a fair and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution, the report added.

"[They further] assessed the situation on the ground in Palestine in light of the continuation of the illegal measures [the Israeli settlements] that weakens the chances of achieving a fair peace in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem," according to an Egyptian foreign ministry statement.

The two-state solution involves the establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international law and the Arab Peace Initiative, the statement said.

In May, Egypt successfully brokered a ceasefire to end a devastating conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which left 274 Palestinians, including 66 children, and 12 Israelis dead.

The devastating Israeli bombardments saw over a thousand homes in Gaza destroyed and up to 50,000 Palestinians displaced.

Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in May and August, meeting with officials from both sides to consolidate the ceasefire.

Sisi allocated $500 million to help reconstruction efforts in Gaza as well, with Egyptian companies set to take charge of rebuilding parts of the strip. Egypt has been criticised for its siege on Gaza, which had led to shortages of building materials, as well as medicine and other essential supplies.

Four months later, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, on the first visit to Egypt by an Israeli premier in over a decade to discuss "efforts to revive the peace process" between the Israelis and Palestinians.

In September, Sisi and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met in Cairo where the two reportedly discussed reconstruction and a possible peace process.

Successive Israeli governments have failed to make any concessions that would make a two-state solution viable and successive peace talks have collapsed over the past three decades, which have been blamed on Israel, which has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967.

Current Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has opposed the creation of a Palestinian state and his coalition government of centre, left-wing and far-right parties have agreed to maintain the status quo.