US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo.
Antony Blinken in Egypt
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken visited Egypt on Tuesday as part of his latest Middle East crisis tour, seeking a new ceasefire and “an enduring end” to the Israel-Hamas war.
Blinken, who is on his fifth regional tour since the bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out, was due to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a day after he held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.
The US top envoy is expected in Qatar and Israel, hoping to win support for a truce deal that was hashed out in Paris in January but has not yet been signed off on by either Hamas or Israel.
Giving a daily briefing, the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory of southern Rafah, said Heavy strikes and fighting in Gaza killed at least 99 people overnight, mostly women and children.
In a similar development, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Monday that the military “will reach places where we have not yet fought, right up to the last Hamas bastion, which is Rafah”, on the Egyptian border.
