Egypt and Emirates discuss humanitarian aid to Gaza
Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, received in Abu Dhabi the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in a summit at the highest level in which a number of very important issues were discussed.
The main topic discussed was humanitarian aid to Gaza, in which both nations are committed to alleviating the situation of the Gazan population, ravaged by the war between Israel and Hamas that began just after the Palestinian armed group carried out bloody attacks on Hebrew territory on 7 October 2023 that left around 1,200 dead and some 250 people kidnapped.
During the Egyptian president's important visit to the Emirates on Thursday, he discussed with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan the need to provide sufficient humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and to continue work on implementing the ‘two-state solution’, in which both the Israeli state and the Palestinian state would coexist on the same territory, in order to settle the Palestinian territorial issue once and for all.
This solution is the most internationally recognised and widely supported. It may be a possible next avenue for agreement, especially after the recent ceasefire in Gaza following the agreement reached by the parties involved in the Doha talks in Qatar.
The Emirati and Egyptian heads of state also discussed economic and investment relations between the two countries with a view to further strengthening ties between the two nations. This is a very important issue given Cairo's difficult financial situation.
Egypt entered into a crisis situation due to its huge public spending after also going through a difficult situation in terms of liquidity in 2023 and receiving a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2024.
Indeed, the UAE is a key economic partner for Egypt. In fact, in 2024, the Gulf country allocated 35 billion dollars to the Cairo government in what was the largest foreign direct investment in the history of the Egyptian country.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi discussed various political issues, particularly those related to the Middle East region.
Both leaders welcomed the announcement of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need to deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to the Strip and to continue talks to implement the ‘two-state solution’, as this is the way to achieve stability and a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.
The Emirati president also praised Egyptian efforts to support the Palestinian people, in addition to Egypt's role in reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip, after the cessation of the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, will require an extraordinary effort to help the population and for its reconstruction.
The United Nations (UN) predicts that billions of dollars will be needed over the coming decades to rebuild the area. At the moment, removing the more than 40 tonnes of rubble left by Israeli bombardment will require support of some 1.2 billion dollars. The reconstruction of Gaza's homes will take until 2040, according to official estimates.
Added to this are the personal tragedies with tens of thousands of fatalities, which have affected a multitude of families who will need a great deal of humanitarian aid to get their lives back on track. Nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are in the thick of the task.