Credit: Israel em Portugal
The foreign minister will be in Israel and the West Bank early next week, a two-day visit in which he will meet with the Israeli president and the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, it was announced on Saturday.
On Monday, Paulo Rangel will visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum before meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. In the afternoon, a meeting is scheduled with families of hostages captured by Hamas in the attacks by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7, 2023 and a meeting with the director of the NGO Terrestrial Jerusalem, Daniel Seidemann.
On Tuesday, he will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzabala, and the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid in the occupied Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi. After the meetings in Jerusalem, the minister will head to Ramallah in the West Bank, where he will meet with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Mustafa, before visiting the Amari refugee camp.
Last Tuesday, Paulo Rangel stated that he intends to convey to the Israeli authorities Portugal's "solidarity" in relation to the attacks by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7, 2023, but also "discontent with the disproportion" of the Israeli reaction in the Palestinian enclave, as well as appealing for them to be able to "continue the path of ceasefire, of course, with guarantees for Israel". To the Palestinian Authority, the head of Portuguese diplomacy stated that he wanted to "teach the Palestinian Authority that it is essential to take advantage of the opportunity, with the resources provided by the international community, to train themselves and maintain a stance in favor of peace."
A visit to Egypt, the country mediating peace in the Gaza Strip, was also planned, but was cancelled due to the chancellor's trip to Washington, in the United States. Instead, the Portuguese minister could go to Lebanon on Wednesday, a visit that has yet to be confirmed.
Source: Lusa
