By Xinhua,
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt : Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyadh al-Maliki on Saturday expressed his hope that the Egypt-brokered Gaza truce would last and be extended to West Bank.
Maliki made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the second day of the two-day 13th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) Executive Council ahead of the AU Summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort.
He noted that Egypt’s brokering efforts of the calm or ceasefire in Gaza Strip between Hamas and Israel got the support from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“We hope the ceasefire will be extended to West Bank ,” the Palestinian foreign minister added.
The Egyptian-brokered truce started on June 19 in Gaza. The six-month ceasefire is expected to halt Israeli attacks into Gaza and ease the blockade which Israel imposed on Gaza Strip when Hamas took over the territory by force a year ago. During the Gaza fighting, Hamas routed security forces loyal to Abbas and ousted his Fatah movement.
Referring to the inclusion of situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian territories in the agenda of AU foreign ministers meeting, Maliki noted that as an observer, he presented a report on Saturday to the Executive Council on the latest developments in the Palestinian territories.
He expressed appreciation to the AU support in the Palestinian file in the past as Africa has three non-permanent seats in the UN Security Council.
Under the summit theme “Meeting the Millennium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation”, the 11th AU Summit is scheduled to be held on June 30 and July 1 in Sharm el-Sheikh.