Cairo: Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty on Monday, September 7, 2026, reiterated Egypt's categorical rejection of any statements or plans aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (Al Quds city).
According to State Information Service Egypt, Abdelatty was addressing the meeting of the Arab Ministerial Committee tasked with international action to confront illegal Israeli policies and measures in occupied Jerusalem. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 166th session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level in Cairo.
The top Egyptian diplomat stressed that East Jerusalem (Al Quds city) is occupied Palestinian territory and that its final status cannot be determined through unilateral measures or the imposition of facts on the ground. He warned against tampering with the historic and legal status quo at holy sites, particularly Al-Haram Al-Sharif/Al-Aqsa Mosque, or imposing any temporal or spatial division within the compound.
Abdelatty stressed the need to protect Islamic and Christian holy sites and guarantee freedom of worship and access to them. He renewed Egypt's full support for the Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem and expressed appreciation for the role played by Jordan in protecting them and preserving the status quo.
The Foreign Minister condemned Israeli policies and practices targeting Palestinians in Jerusalem, including settlement expansion, land confiscation, home demolitions, attempts at forced displacement, and efforts to isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings. He also warned that implementation of the E1 settlement project would undermine the geographic contiguity of Palestinian territories and prospects for establishing a viable Palestinian state.
Abdelatty cautioned against continued systematic Israeli targeting of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), its institutions and personnel, calling on the international community to fulfill its responsibilities to protect the agency and ensure that it can continue carrying out its mandate. He also urged countries that have announced plans to move their embassies to Jerusalem to reconsider their positions, saying such moves contravene international legitimacy resolutions.
The minister called for intensified Arab and international action to halt unilateral Israeli measures and policies of settlement expansion, annexation, land confiscation, home demolitions, and displacement, and for practical steps to prevent the consolidation of illegal facts on the ground. He further warned of the serious developments in the West Bank amid settlement expansion, settler terrorism, and measures aimed at undermining the Palestinian Authority.
Abdelatty stressed that the Palestinian cause remains at the core of the conflict in the region, adding that achieving security and stability requires a just and comprehensive settlement based on the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and viable Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.