Egypt has said that achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East depends on ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with international legitimacy resolutions and the two-state solution. Speaking before the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Mohamed Helal, Egypt’s representative to the council, called for broader international recognition of the State of Palestine and support for its full membership of the United Nations. Egypt also welcomed decisions by several European countries to ban trade in goods and products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. It urged the remaining European Union member states and the wider international community to adopt similar legal measures. On regional stability, Egypt said peace in the Middle East would not be complete without ending the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab territories.