NEWS: BLINKEN ARRIVES IN CAIRO AT START OF MIDEAST TOUR
Read Time:1 Minute, 19 Second
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Egypt to begin a regional visit aimed at promoting the much-needed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Blinken is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem later on Monday after having private discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.
Egypt has historically served as a mediator between Palestinian and Israeli officials. Egypt was the first Arab nation to recognize Israel and sign a peace treaty with it in 1979.
Plans to reopen the Rafah border gate between Egypt and Gaza, which has been closed for a month since Israeli troops took its Palestinian side, were anticipated to be discussed by Sisi and Blinken. This crossing is a vital route for supplies into the besieged region.
Biden had identified the initiative as Israeli, and while concerns about how domestic Israeli politics could sabotage negotiations have grown, Hamas has not formally responded.
Blinken is also anticipated to meet Benny Gantz, a moderate lawmaker who quit the war cabinet on Sunday due to Netanyahu’s management of the conflict, while he is in Israel.
Blinken will next travel to Qatar and Jordan to hold additional discussions.
According to an AFP count based on Israeli official data, 1,194 people, largely civilians, died in the strike on southern Israel on October 7, which precipitated the start of the war.
According to the health ministry of the territory, Israel’s retaliatory military attack in Gaza has killed at least 37,124 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0