Sisi: Egypt willing to send stabilizing forces to future Palestinian State

November 24, 2014

In an interview published yesterday in newspaper,  president  said when a  is established, his country will be willing to send armed forces. These forces would be sent for an interim period, until it achieves stability and needs them no longer, and would be deployed in full coordination with and the. Sisi spoke prior to his first visit to since he came into office. During his visit he is to meet with, amongst other public figures. He said he had spoken about the subject with Palestinian President and Israeli Prime Minister.

He added sending armed forces would aim to "help the local police and reassure the Israelis through our role as guarantor". Nevertheless, he stated, "first a Palestinian state must exist where troops can be sent to". Moreover, he does not intend to leave his forces in the Palestinian state forever, but rather "for the time necessary to reestablish confidence".

A few months ago, Egypt proposed to train the Palestinian Authority's forces in the, notably to protect the shared border on the Palestinian side. Sisi's government emphasized that strengthening the control of their side of, which connects the Gaza Strip with Egypt, would help it achieve its goals and regulate the opening of the border crossing.