His Majesty King Abdullah, on Sunday in Cairo, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
 
The meeting, held at Al Ittihadiya Palace and attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, covered the deep-rooted trilateral ties and means to advance them further.
 
The three leaders stressed that current challenges and crises, with ramifications that extend beyond borders, require coordinating efforts and bolstering joint Arab action, while activating regional cooperation on food and energy security.
 
The meeting also covered the latest international and regional developments, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause, with the leaders stressing their countries’ readiness to exert all efforts to restore calm in Jerusalem, end all forms of escalation, and remove obstacles impeding worshippers’ access.
 
They emphasised the importance of respecting the Hashemite Custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and supporting the steadfastness of the Palestinian people while enabling the National Palestinian Authority to undertake its duties.
 
The leaders noted Israel must cease all measures that undermine peace prospects, calling for a political horizon to return to serious and active negotiations to resolve the conflict on the basis of the two-state solution.
 
King Abdullah denounced the Israeli violations, including incursions into Al Aqsa Mosque by settlers and assaults on worshippers, as well as restrictions to the access of Christians into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the limitations on the number of people marking the Saturday of Light.
 
His Majesty stressed the need to respect the historical and legal status quo at Al Haram Al Sharif, expressing rejection of attempts at the temporal and spatial division of Al Aqsa Mosque.
 
The King noted the importance of maintaining diplomatic efforts to address the roots of the tensions and conflict, which will continue to threaten the region if the peace process does not resume and the right of the Palestinian people to their independent state on the 4 June 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital is not recognised.
 
Acknowledging the dangers of global crises, His Majesty said they must not take away from attention to the Palestinian cause, urging international mobilisation to end illegal Israeli measures and prevent their recurrence, in accordance with international law and to avert further or renewed violence.
 
Following the trilateral meeting, His Majesty held separate meetings with the Egyptian president and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, covering means of bolstering bilateral relations.
 
President El Sisi hosted an iftar in honour of King Abdullah and Sheikh Mohamed, attended by the Jordanian and UAE delegations, as well as senior Egyptian officials.
 
Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, General Intelligence Department Director Maj. Gen. Ahmad Husni, and Jordan’s Ambassador to Egypt Amjad Adaileh attended the meetings.