Sameh Shoukry (right) and Anthony Blinken during their meeting in Cairo (European)
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken continued his regional tour, which he began yesterday, Wednesday, in Saudi Arabia, and met today in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, to discuss the war on the Gaza Strip, mediation efforts to reach a prisoner exchange deal, and efforts to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that Sisi stressed, during his meeting with Blinken, the necessity of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
She added - in a statement - that Al-Sisi warned of the dangerous consequences of any military operation in the city of Rafah, adjacent to the Egyptian border.
The Egyptian President also stressed - according to the statement - the necessity of urgent action to bring sufficient amounts of aid into the Gaza Strip, and to open the horizons of the political track through intensive work to activate the two-state solution.
Blinken is scheduled to participate today, Thursday in Cairo, in a meeting with his Qatari, Jordanian, and Egyptian counterparts, the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Affairs, and the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) during his meeting with Blinken in Jeddah (Reuters)
Jeddah meeting
Blinken met in Jeddah yesterday, Wednesday, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at the beginning of a regional tour in the region.
The Saudi Press Agency said that Blinken discussed with the Saudi Crown Prince the developments in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings and the efforts made to stop military operations and deal with their security and humanitarian repercussions.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry also said that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed with Blinken the developments of the situation in the Gaza Strip and the city of Rafah, the importance of an immediate ceasefire, and efforts to ensure the entry of urgent humanitarian aid.
In turn, Blinken said in a post on the X platform that the talks he held in Saudi Arabia addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and efforts made to increase immediate aid to the Palestinians.
Blinken reaffirmed Washington's commitment to lasting peace and security in the region, as he put it.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs praised Blinken's efforts, but said, "We do not see tangible results from his tours."
The ministry added in a statement today, "With every visit by the US Secretary of State, Israel resorts to escalating its aggression against our people, as is currently happening at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza."
It is noteworthy that Israel continues for the 167th consecutive day its devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which left tens of thousands of civilian martyrs - most of them children and women - massive destruction and an ongoing famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.
Source: Agencies