During their visit to Egypt, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for the necessity of continuing the short humanitarian truce in Gaza after its end, as a starting point towards a permanent ceasefire in the Strip, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi stressed “the necessity of recognizing the Palestinian state.”

Al-Sisi said in a joint press conference with Sanchez and De Croo today, Friday, November 24, 2023, in Cairo, that “reviving the two-state solution path may not be what is currently required, and we must move differently, which is to recognize the Palestinian state.”

He added that the idea of reviving the two-state solution path "was exhausted over 30 years," referring to the period that has passed since the signing of the Oslo peace agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993.

Al-Sisi continued: “We must be realistic and objective to resolve the issue, after 5 rounds of conflict in the last 20 years in which 27,000 Palestinian civilians were killed, most of whom were women and children.”

After their meeting with the Egyptian President, Pedro Sánchez and Alexander De Croo visited the Rafah crossing

During the press conference, Sánchez described the ongoing situation in Gaza as ‘the worst humanitarian disaster in modern times’.

He urged the international community to formally acknowledge the state of Palestine, highlighting the need for diplomatic recognition.

“We may decide to recognize the state of Palestine if the European Union does not,” Sánchez stated.

Furthermore, he called for an international peace conference that would bring both Palestinians and Israelis and stressed the importance of inclusive dialogue.

Sánchez stressed that the conference should be built on mutual recognition between the conflicting parties.

For his part, Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called on Israel to cease the killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip. 

De Croo stated that the destruction of the Gaza Strip is unacceptable and urged Hamas to exert all possible efforts to release all hostages. 

He also emphasized that the temporary 4-day ceasefire in Gaza needs to transition into a permanent and lasting cessation of hostilities.