CAIRO: US President Donald Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner and special envoy Jason Greenblatt met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Sisi told the US diplomats, who are touring the region in a bid to revive long-stalled talks, that Egypt supports a “just and comprehensive settlement” to the conflict.

He argued in favour of a “two-state solution on the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine,” the presidency said in a statement.

Trump’s administration sparked anger across the Arab world in December by recognising Jerusalem as capital of the Jewish state.

The Palestinian leadership responded by freezing all contacts with US officials.

In May, Washington moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, sparking mass demonstrations on Israel’s flashpoint border with Gaza in which Israeli forces shot dead dozens of demonstrators.

The White House said on Thursday that Kushner and Greenblatt had discussed increasing cooperation between the United States and Egypt.

They also talked about “the need to facilitate humanitarian relief to Gaza, and the Trump administration’s efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians”, it said.

Sisi’s office said he had told them Egypt maintains “ongoing contacts with the parties concerned to advance efforts to revive negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.” He also pointed to Egypt’s efforts to promote reconciliation between the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Islamists Hamas who rule Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority, which sees the Trump administration as biased towards Israel, said that US plans to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are “doomed to fail”.

Kushner and Greenblatt met Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday before visiting Riyadh to meet Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

They are reported to be planning visits to Israel and Qatar.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2018