Egypt President meets Blinken, warns of regional expansion of Gaza war

Meeting with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, warned Tuesday of the risk of the Gaza war expanding regionally in a way “difficult to imagine”, Anadolu Agency reports.

Meeting in El-Alamein, northern Egypt, the two sides reviewed mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the US to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and swap prisoners, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

They also exchanged views about the results of the last round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar and ways to achieve progress in the next round of the talks in Cairo this week, it added.

Blinken briefed the Egyptian leader on the outcome of his visit to Israel and underlined the US commitment to reach a ceasefire agreement, the statement said.

The top US diplomat also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, who voiced hope that the next round of ceasefire talks “will see a genuine Israeli political will to end the Gaza war”.

“This is the only way to put an end to the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip and to prevent the regional situation from spiralling out of control,” he added, as cited by a Foreign Ministry statement.

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He called for finding “a permanent and just solution to the Palestinian issue, and ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

For his part, Blinken said he agrees with the Egyptian vision seeking a swift ceasefire in Gaza.

The two agreed on “continuing close coordination and consultation in the coming period regarding support for mediation efforts in the Gaza crisis and containing regional escalation,” the statement said.

Blinken will travel to Qatar later in the day for Gaza ceasefire talks with top Qatari officials.

Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday for his ninth visit to the region since last 7 October to advance efforts aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar concluded on Friday by presenting “a proposal that narrows the gaps” between Israel and Hamas that is consistent with the principles set out by Biden on 31 May.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

But Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday of setting new conditions in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage swap proposal that was floated during the Doha talks.

“The new proposal meets Netanyahu’s conditions and alignments with them, particularly his refusal of a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Junction (which separates the north and south of the Gaza Strip), the Rafah Crossing, and the Philadelphi Corridor (in the south),” Hamas said in a statement.

“He also set new conditions in the hosting swap file and retracted from other terms, which obstructs the completion of the deal,” it added.

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’s demands to stop the war.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on 7 October, 2023 despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The Israeli onslaught has resulted in over 40,170 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and more than 92,740 injuries, according to local health authorities.

The ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

READ: Hamas rejects ‘new conditions’ set by Israel in proposed Doha Agreement