Palestinian leader Mohamed Dahlan praised the role performed by the Egyptian government to support the Palestinian issue, stressing that Egypt has not abandoned the issue during the recent year despite the critical conditions witnessed in the country since the Arab Spring Revolutions.

He underlined Egypt’s keenness to keep the Palestinian issue in the spotlight, signaling to the speeches delivered by President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi in different international forums, as he is always keen to express support for the rights of the Palestinian people. He added that Egypt also exerts its efforts to restore the Palestinian unity and to bridge the gap of difference among the Palestinian factions.

He added, in an interview with “Arabs Today”, that the Palestinian issue is viewed by the Egyptian regime as an issue related to their national security, saying that they support the Palestinian right of establishing an independent state on one hand, and the independence of the Palestinian decision in the face of the attempts of polarization.

He added that the Egyptian role has not been suspended during the recent years except during the one-year rule of Muslim Brotherhood, as the group was supporting Hamas and turned to adopt biased position.

He acknowledged that the Palestinian issue is no longer a priority for most of Arab states during the recent years due to the critical conditions witnessed in the region since the Arab uprisings in 2011. He added that these conditions pushed the Arab leaders to give priority to the internal position in their countries at the expense of the Palestinian issue.

Even the Arab citizen, according to the Palestinian politician, became more occupied of the internal economic situation because of the current economic problems that hit the region, stressing that the citizens before were performing a major role to push their leaders to give priority to the Palestinian issue.

The Palestinian leader blamed the Palestinian division for the current deterioration, saying that Hamas’ control over the Gaza Strip diverted attention to other issues away from the core issue, including the Palestinian reconciliation. He added that the Palestinian leadership, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, bears the responsibility of the decline of the Palestinian issue on the international level.

Regarding his visit to Cairo, Dahlan said, “It comes in the framework of consecutive visits conducted by the Palestinian leaders to the Egyptian capital upon invitation from the Egyptian authorities. The Egyptian leaders conducted talks with delegations from different Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad, Fatah and Hamas to discuss the recent developments on the Palestinian arena and the efforts to achieve reconciliation.

He denied the reports raised recently over his intention to run for the presidency in Palestine, saying that he has no ambition to take such position, saying, “since the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian arena suffers from a state of vacuum and no one can fill this vacuum. The Palestinian issue witnessed its worst years under Abbas.”