Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas begins three-day visit to Egypt

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to arrive in Cairo Saturday to begin a three-day visit in which he will meet his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arab League.

Palestinian ambassador to Egypt Jamal Shobaki, who also serves as an envoy to the Arab League, told reporters Friday that the foreign ministers of the Arab League member states would dedicate a special session to discuss the latest developments in Palestine during the session.

President Abbas planned to discuss the situation in the devastated Gaza Strip with regional foreign ministers in light of the massive Israeli assault which left more than 2,000 dead and 100,000 homeless.

Abbas is expected to present the foreign ministers with the Palestinian Authority's intended future plan to call for the end of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip within a limited time frame.

Since the end of the Israeli offensive on Gaza in late August, Palestinian officials in the West Bank have focused on demanding an end to the Israeli occupation in light of the failure of peace negotiations earlier this year and Israel's continued violence.

On Thursday, Palestinian officials Saeb Erekat and Majid Faraj presented a proposal to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for a clear timetable of an Israeli military withdrawal from the occupied territories.