ISTANBUL, Feb 20 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Egypt is committed to continuing the training of Palestinian police personnel to maintain security in Gaza, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Thursday during the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, DC, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.
Madbouly said Egypt supports United States (US) President Donald Trump’s vision for “a new era of peace and coexistence” in the region in which Palestinians enjoy their right to self-determination and statehood in line with relevant international resolutions.
Egypt appreciates Trump’s position rejecting the annexation of the West Bank and supports the mandate of the Board of Peace as a principal framework for governing the transitional period in Gaza, he added.
Madbouly stressed the need to fully empower the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) “to function effectively from within and throughout the Strip,” adding that preserving the institutional and geographic link between the West Bank and Gaza is vital for the Palestinian Authority to eventually resume its role in Gaza.
The NCAG is a nonpolitical body formed under a Gaza plan proposed by Trump tasked with managing daily civil service affairs in the enclave.
It comprises 11 Palestinian figures and is led by Ali Shaath, a Palestinian technocrat with extensive expertise in infrastructure, planning and public administration.
The committee began operating from the Egyptian capital Cairo in mid-January but has yet to start work inside Gaza, where about 2.4 million Palestinians face severe humanitarian conditions.
“Egypt will continue its effort to train Palestinian police personnel to maintain security within the Strip,” he said.
Madbouly also said that his country values Trump’s rejection of the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza as reflected in the 20-point plan and emphasised the importance of launching early recovery projects across the territory “in a manner that preserves its geographic unity.”
The Board of Peace was established within the framework of efforts towards a peaceful settlement in the Gaza Strip. It seeks to promote peacemaking around the world. Washington has said additional states have since joined the initiative.
A US-backed ceasefire agreement has been in place in Gaza since Oct 10, halting Israel’s two-year onslaught, which has killed more than 72,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 since October 2023.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces have committed hundreds of violations through shelling and gunfire, killing 611 Palestinians and injuring 1,630, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
