JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi on the sideline of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that the two leaders "met for almost two hours and discussed regional developments and the situation in Gaza."
"I met tonight in New York with Egypt's President Sisi to discuss regional developments," Netanyahu tweeted on Thursday morning on his Twitter account, with a photo of him and Sisi shaking hands.
A spokesperson of Egyptian presidential palace in Cairo said that the two leaders "discussed ways to renew the diplomatic process (between Israel and the Palestinians)," Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported.
According to the spokesperson, Sisi stressed that a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will contribute to "a new reality in the Middle East, in which all of the peoples of the region will enjoy stability, security, and prosperity."
The meeting came amidst concerns raised by the Middle East Quartet, a body that includes the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations, over the violence in the Gaza Strip.
In a meeting on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the Quartet discussed the "prospects for peace negotiations and the situation on the ground, in particular in Gaza," according to a statement it issued.
"The envoys expressed their deep concern over the continued escalation in Gaza," the Quartet said.
Sisi was the only Arab leader who met with Netanyahu during the current UN annual convention.
The two met during last year's UN General Assembly, in a meeting that marked their first public meeting.
