On the 7^th of November 2017, the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA) received a delegation from the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), which included: Ms. (Judy Hyland), Senior Advisor to the National Committee for Human Rights), Colonel (Petri Kajanma), Deputy Chief of Staff, and Mr. (Dave foly), Head of Legal Affairs Department.

On the other hand, the following ECFA Board Members attended the meeting: H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mounier Zahran, ECFA Chairman, H.E. Ambassador Ezzat Saad ECFA Executive Director, and Maj. Gen. Muhammad Ibraheem El-Daury, ECFA’s Israeli Studies Unit Head.

The meeting has focused on the following issues in particular: recent events in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA); positive progress in Lebanon in terms of Governance and adoption of the electoral law; Israeli threats against Lebanon and Syria; security and stability of Sinai; especially after ISIL’s defeat in Iraq and Syria; and reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah Movements.

The Egyptian side stressed that Egypt will NOT tolerate any terrorist activities on its territory, and that Egypt is working and coordinating with all States to eliminate the terrorist presence of those groups.

For his part, the UN Delegation stressed that Egypt’s recent maneuvers to move stagnant water in the reconciliation process had been successful thanks to several characteristic elements of Egypt’s Role, e.g. relations with Palestinian elites and factions, nevertheless the process is still facing  many problems.

Then, talks touched on several developments in the region, both in the wake of the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad EL-Hariry, Iran’s threats in the region, and the fear of escalating the pace of Israeli confrontations with Hezbollah on Syrian borders.