Israel's Foreign Minister discusses in Cairo strengthening relations, peace files and Iran

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met Thursday with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who is on an official visit to Cairo to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss developments in the Palestinian cause and the Iran file.

In a brief statement, Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said that Sisi "receives at the Federal Palace Yair Lapid, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel."

Lapid also met his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

And the Egyptian Foreign Ministry's account on Twitter published pictures of the two foreign ministers during their meeting, which is being held "to confirm Egypt's role and efforts to revive the peace path, and to discuss the most prominent issues of bilateral relations between the two countries," according to the ministry's account.

For his part, Lapid thanked Sisi in a Thursday statement for his "hospitality."

"Egypt is a particularly important strategic partner for Israel, and my goal is to strengthen our security, diplomatic and economic relations with Egypt, and it is important to continue working on peace between our two countries," he said.

In his statement, Lapid indicated that he discussed with Sisi "the situation in the Gaza Strip" and presented him with the program "Economy for Security and the steps taken by the Israeli government regarding the Palestinian issue."

He noted that they also touched on "Iran's attempts to become a country with nuclear military capabilities."

Lapid's visit to Egypt comes about three months after Sisi received Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, in a visit that was the first at this level in ten years.

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