President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held his first phone call with new Israeli PM Naftali Bennett yesterday, emphasizing the importance of preserving the recent ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, according to statements released by both leaders’ offices (here and here). Egypt, which played a key role in ending last month’s conflict, supports the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, El Sisi told Bennett, who became Israel’s prime minister earlier this month. Egypt had earlier pledged USD 500 mn for the reconstruction of properties and infrastructure in Gaza, and has been seeking to turn the Israel-Hamas ceasefire it brokered in late May into a longer-term agreement.

The two leaders agreed to arrange a bilateral meeting soon, Bennett’s office said.

The story got a digital ink in the foreign press, from Reuters and Haaretz to Xinhua and the Jerusalem Post.

IN OTHER DIPLO NEWS- GERD was one of the main topics of conversation for Foreign Sameh Shoukry yesterday. The minister was in Rome to attend a meeting of the global anti-Daesh coalition and discuss efforts to combat the terrorist organization. The foreign minister discussed developments in the dispute with Ethiopia with his US, British, French, Congolese, and Kenyan counterparts.