Doha: Pushing forward on a diplomatic mission to bolster a cease-fire that ended 11 days of conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas resistance group, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Egypt and Jordan Wednesday.
Blinken landed in Cairo a day after holding intensive talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. In Egypt, he met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and other top officials. Later he traveled to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II.
Blinken has vowed to “rally international support” to rebuild hard-hit Gaza while promising to make sure that none of the aid reaches Hamas. He is instead trying to bolster Hamas’ rival, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority (PA).
In a boost to those efforts, the energy-rich Gulf country of Qatar pledged $500 million to postwar reconstruction in Gaza. Qatar often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and it has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian and development aid to support past cease-fires.
“We will continue to support our brothers in Palestine in order to reach a just and lasting solution by establishing their independent state,” Qatar’s foreign minister, Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, wrote on Twitter.
Blinken has set modest goals for the trip, his first official visit to the Middle East as secretary of state. His main goals have been to help rebuild Gaza and lower the tensions in contested Jerusalem that helped fuel the war.
But he has made it made clear the U.S. has no immediate plans to pursue peace talks between the sides and done little to address the underlying causes of the decadeslong conflict, though he expressed hope for creating a “better environment” that might lead to negotiations.
In Cairo, Blinken on Wednesday met with el-Sissi for nearly two hours. Meeting with American diplomatic staff afterwards, he described Egypt as a “real and effective partner” that helped end the Gaza war and is helping “build something positive.” El-Sissi spoke to President Joe Biden last week before and after the cease-fire was announced.
“I think we both believe strongly that Palestinians and Israelis deserve equally to, to live in safety and security to enjoy equal measures of freedom, opportunity and dignity. And we’re working on that together,” Blinken said before departing to Jordan.
El-Sissi issued a statement later saying the latest round of violence showed the urgency of resuming direct negotiations. He called for “active American engagement” to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
Both Egypt and Jordan are key U.S. allies that have peace agreements with Israel and frequently serve as mediators between Israel and the Palestinians. Egypt maintains ties with Hamas, but also enforces a tight blockade on Gaza, along with Israel, with a shared goal of preventing the resistance group from arming. – Agencies
