Baghdad: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the latest developments in joint efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and exchange of detainees and prisoners.
According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency today, Monday, Sisi and Blinken agreed to intensify these efforts during the current stage, and Egyptian efforts to enforce humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza were discussed.
Sisi stressed the importance of concerted international efforts to remove obstacles to the enforcement of humanitarian aid, the necessity of ending the aggression on the Strip and preventing the expansion of the conflict, and moving forward in implementing the two-state solution.
For his part, Blinken stressed the US administration’s appreciation for the ongoing Egyptian efforts on the political and humanitarian tracks, and its keenness to continue joint work and coordination between the two countries to restore security and peace in the region.
According to th
e Egyptian presidency, the two sides stressed the strength of the Egyptian-American strategic partnership, and the two countries’ keenness to continue joint coordination on various topics and issues.
Anthony Blinken arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Monday, at the beginning of a tour of the Middle East, centered on a new effort to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken is expected to head to Jordan and Qatar this week, as part of his eighth tour of the region, since the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, last October 7.
Blinken’s tour of the Middle East comes after US President Joe Biden presented on May 31 the broad outlines of a three-stage Israeli proposal for a ceasefire that stipulates a permanent cessation of hostilities, the release of Israeli detainees in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said in a statement last Friday that Blinken will discuss with partners during his visit this w
eek the need to reach a ceasefire agreement that guarantees the release of all detainees, as well as the importance of preventing the expansion of the conflict.
Miller added that Blinken will stress the importance of Hamas accepting the truce proposal on the table.
The Israeli occupation continues its intensive, comprehensive and unprecedented aggression on the Gaza Strip, by launching dozens of airstrikes and shelling by land and sea, while committing bloody massacres against Palestinian civilians and carrying out crimes of genocide in the areas of incursion, which has left tens of thousands of martyrs, wounded and missing and has caused massive destruction to infrastructure, facilities and vital installations, in addition to the unprecedented humanitarian disaster it has caused in the Strip, as a result of stopping the supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel due to the restrictions of the occupation.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
