Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have reaffirmed Egypt’s firm rejection of any attempts to displace Palestinians from their territories, as they held a meeting today in Cairo.
Sisi and Blinken also reiterated their commitment to the two-state solution as a basis for achieving regional stability.
During the meeting, Sisi emphasized the international community’s responsibility to enforce relevant UN resolutions, ensuring the delivery of sufficient aid to Gaza and putting an end to the humanitarian catastrophe and immense suffering faced by the people.
Sisi stressed to Blinken the importance that the de-escalation efforts result in a fair and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian cause, enabling Palestinians to obtain their rights and fostering security, development, and prosperity for all in the region.
Sisi and Blinken agreed to continue intensified consultations on current developments and engage with various parties to promote de-escalation in Gaza and prevent further escalation of the conflict.
Blinken was briefed on Egypt’s efforts to engage with all parties to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and ensure access to humanitarian aid.
Blinken conveyed Biden’s greetings to President Sisi and commended Egypt’s ongoing efforts to deescalate the situation in the region and promote peace and stability.
Blinken is visiting Egypt on the last leg of his Middle East tour to discuss the dire humanitarian situation in the strip.
This comes a day after Blinken travelled to the West Bank from Israel and then to Bahrain to discuss the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the urgent need for protecting civilians.
Blinken’s tour also included Turkey, Greece, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
Blinken’s tour comes amid ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza since October 7 with the death toll among Palestinian civilians surpassing 23,000, most of whom are women and children.
His visit also comes while the Houthis in Yemen have escalated their attacks against Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for the Israeli aggression against Palestinian civilians, causing some shipping lines to divert to longer routes.
Egypt has intensified its calls for the international community to seek a solution for the Palestinian cause, especially since the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
In many occasions, Cairo has stressed that achieving sustainable stability in the region requires reaching a fair and comprehensive resolution to the Palestinian cause based on the two-state solution.
Egypt has also taken it upon itself to deliver tens of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian civilians, especially as the Israeli attacks have caused the strip to suffer from one of the world’s worst humanitarian conditions.
Furthermore, Cairo is working to achieve a permanent cessation to the ongoing Israeli assaults in Gaza, receiving high-level delegations from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Egypt has been also confronting an Israeli scheme to relocate Palestinians in Gaza to Sinai, a proposal that Cairo has strongly rejected.
The Israeli attacks in Gaza over the past 97 days have killed 23,469 people and injured 59,604 individuals, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Seventy percent of the victims are women and children.
