Egypt supports all efforts to end tensions in Palestine, “stop settlement activities, provide the necessary protection to the Palestinian people and create an atmosphere conducive to resolving the Palestinian issue through consolidated international efforts and initiatives,” President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas, who is in Cairo on a two-day visit, also met with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who reiterated that Egypt supports international initiatives proposed on the Palestinian issue “to achieve the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” the SIS quotes Shoukry as saying. Violence had erupted along the Gaza border on Wednesday, according to Reuters, with senior Hamas official in exile, Moussa Abu Marzouk, saying “calm was restored after Egypt intervened to mediate a truce with Israel following 24 hours of fighting.”