Abbas dismisses reports on granting Palestinians land in Sinai

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday denied reports that he had discussed with Egyptian President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi the possibility of allocating a plot of land in Egypt's Sinai to Palestinians.
"Me and President Al-Sisi have never discussed this topic during our talks," Abbas said at the meeting of the Palestinian leadership, adding that "we (Palestinians) know that Al-Sisi rejects that matter." He added, "this topic was seriously exposed in the era of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, who is being tried on many charges," he said.
As a result, the then Field Marshal Al-Sisi issued a resolution to ban selling plots of land in Sinai to foreigners, he pointed out.
Abbas added that ousted president Hosni Mubarak, who is also being tried on charges of a number of cases, adamantly refused to give "some meters" to Palestinians used for Rafah airport.
"Mubarak, at the time, said I can never give Palestinians even one centimeter," Abbas added.
Concerning preparations for a donors' conference which will be co-hosted by Egypt and Norway next month in Cairo on the reconstruction of Gaza Strip, he said that both nations are preparing well to make it a success.
"We want to reconstruct Gaza and provide required relief substances and medical supplies to people in the Strip," he added.