Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Badr Abdel Aati stressed, on Sunday, the necessity of finding a political horizon for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, to get it out of the repeated cycles of violence, stressing the importance of establishing an independent state with the unity of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, based on the two-state solution.

This came during Minister Abdel-Ati’s reception, on Sunday, of a delegation from the US House of Representatives led by Representative Darrell Issa (California), Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and including Representatives Sheila McCormick (Florida), Chuck Edwards (North Carolina), Jim Costa (California), and James Baird (Indiana), according to the spokesman for the “Foreign Ministry” Tamim Khalaf.

The spokesman stated in a press statement that the meeting comes within the framework of the extended dialogue between Egypt and Congress to support bilateral relations and exchange views on developments in the Middle East. He added that the meeting discussed the overall close bilateral relations between Egypt and the United States, ways to enhance the strategic partnership that extends for more than four decades, and support cooperation in various fields to achieve common interests, as Minister Abdel Aati praised the active interaction between Egypt and Congress.

The spokesman said that Abdel-Ati praised the role played by the current US administration in reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, indicating the hope that the United States would continue its main role in implementing the stages of the agreement and ensuring the implementation of all its provisions by all parties.

The spokesman added that the meeting witnessed an exchange of views on the developments in Gaza, where the Foreign Minister provided a detailed explanation of the determinants of the Egyptian position on the Palestinian issue, highlighting the efforts made by Egypt to consolidate and implement the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the exchange of hostages and prisoners in its three stages in cooperation with Qatar and the United States, stressing the need to continue the flow of humanitarian aid at an intensive and accelerated pace in light of the deteriorating conditions in the Strip.

Minister Abdel-Ati reviewed the intensive efforts exerted by Egypt to formulate an integrated vision to achieve early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza within the framework of a comprehensive, multi-stage program that ensures the Palestinians remain on their land, noting in this context that the vision is being implemented in coordination with the Palestinian Authority and Arab and Islamic countries and with the support of the international community.

The meeting also witnessed an exchange of assessments regarding developments in the region, where a discussion took place regarding developments in Lebanon. In this context, Minister Abdel Aati stressed the great importance of Israel's complete and undiminished withdrawal from southern Lebanon.