CAIRO: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his accompanying delegation on Tuesday.
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, and Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service Maj. Gen. Abbas Kamel, also attended the meeting.
Ahmed Fahmy, Egypt’s presidential spokesman, said that Blinken had conveyed American President Joe Biden’s greetings to El-Sisi, while emphasizing that the US was committed to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries in order to reinforce efforts to maintain stability, peace, and development in the region.
The meeting focused on developments in efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip; exchanging detainees and hostages; and providing access to desperately needed relief aid to end the humanitarian catastrophe in the region.
El-Sisi looked at Egypt’s efforts in challenging conditions, spearheading the process of providing, coordinating, and delivering critical humanitarian aid into Gaza, in coordination with the UN and relief organizations.
He spoke of the pivotal and indispensable role of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
El-Sisi reiterated the crucial importance in implementing international and UN resolutions relevant to the crisis, and of taking earnest steps toward a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian issue that safeguarded lasting stability in the region.
Fahmy said that Blinken affirmed his country’s commitment to continuing coordination and joint efforts with Egypt to achieve calm, and spare the region from an expansion of the conflict.
Blinken praised Egypt’s efforts in support of security and stability in the region.
The US secretary of state was visiting Cairo on his fifth regional tour since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war, following his visit to Riyadh.
