In an effort to stop the Israel-Hamas war from spreading to other parts of the region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Egypt on Sunday to speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his nation’s backing for Israel in its conflict with Hamas.
Blinken stressed, however, that “the way that Israel does this matters” in a speech he made in Cairo after meeting with Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, the president of Egypt. It must do so while exercising all reasonable precaution to protect civilians, affirming our shared values for human life and dignity.
After a frenzied six-country sprint across Arab countries to stop the Israel-Hamas conflict from escalating into a larger regional conflict, Blinken will return to Israel this week.
Blinken’s second visit to Israel in five days will be publicised by the U.S. State Department as soon as the country’s top diplomat lands in Cairo for meetings with el-Sissi.
In light of growing concerns that an upcoming Israeli ground invasion into Gaza could ignite a larger war with catastrophic humanitarian repercussions, it was the final meeting Blinken had with Arab leaders.
During his meeting with Blinken, el-Sissi said Israel’s Gaza operation has exceeded “the right of self-defense” and turned into “a collective punishment,” according to Egypt’s state-run media.
It was the strongest public pushback that Blinken has heard from the seven Arab leaders with whom he has met on the trip.
Blinken for his part said he had had “very good conversations, both with the crown prince in Saudi Arabia and here in Egypt with President el-Sisi.”
He said he had heard “a lot of good ideas about some of the things we need to do moving forward, including practical ideas on getting assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who are in need, but also good and important conversations about the future.”
Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday morning in Riyadh before departing for Egypt.
Following discussions with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority over the preceding three days, that meeting was held.
