US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to arrive in Egypt today as part of a crisis tour of the Middle East calling for a new truce and a “permanent end” to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo, a day after he held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.
That tour, Blinken’s fifth visit to the region since the start of the nearly four-month-long war, will later include talks in Israel and Qatar.
Blinken’s diplomatic push has taken on new urgency as Israeli forces push further south towards Rafah, a Palestinian town on the southern border with Egypt where more than half of the Gaza Strip’s population has taken refuge.
Shelling and raids continued this morning as Israel presses to root out Hamas following an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian group’s fighters on October 7.
“No place is safe, no place at all, where do we go?” asked Palestinian Mohamad Kozaat after six members of his family, including his daughter, were wounded in an Israeli attack on a border town.
At least 99 people, mostly women and children, were killed in Israeli attacks overnight from Monday to Tuesday.
Israel, however, vowed to continue its retaliatory offensive, pushing as far into Palestinian territory as necessary to root out senior Hamas officials.
In recent weeks, the Israeli army has been attacking Khan Yunis, the largest city in southern Gaza.
Israel’s campaign has killed at least 27,478 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, the local Hamas-run health ministry said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a “total victory will deal a fatal blow” not only to Hamas but also to other Iranian-backed militant groups in the entire region.
The truce that Blinken hopes to conclude proposes a six-week pause in fighting while Hamas releases hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and more aid flows into Gaza, according to a Hamas source.
Netanyahu, facing divisions within his cabinet and public anger over the fate of the remaining hostages, said Israel “will not accept” Hamas demands for an exchange.
While the Blinken is en route to Egypt, the marine insurance firm said the British-owned cargo ship had been damaged in the latest attack on rebel-held Yemen.
The Barbadian-flagged ship “reportedly sustained minor damage on the port side,” British company Ambrey said on Tuesday, adding that there were no injuries.
For weeks, Yemen’s Houthis, backed by Iran, have been targeting what they say are ships linked to Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Attacks on the vital Red Sea shipping route have disrupted global trade and prompted retaliation by US and British forces, including attacks on two “explosive-laden drones” on Monday, the US military said.
US President Joe Biden said he wanted to avoid a spiral into a wider conflict in the Middle East, while Iran condemned the strikes in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Netanyahu in a telephone conversation that “only an agreed two-state solution would open up prospects for a sustainable solution to the Middle East conflict.”
“In Riyadh, Blinken also discussed “building a more integrated and prosperous region,” said the spokesperson of the State Department, according to AFP.
