CAIRO: Egypt called off a scheduled meeting between its foreign minister and top US presidential adviser Jared Kushner on Wednesday after the United States decided to withhold millions of dollars in aid.
But President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi would meet the US delegation led by Kushner later in the day, Sisi’s office said.
Two US sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington had decided to deny Egypt $95.7 million in aid and to delay a further $195 million because of its failure to make progress on respecting human rights and democratic norms.
“Egypt sees this measure as reflecting poor judgment of the strategic relationship that ties the two countries over long decades and as adopting a view that lacks an accurate understanding of the importance of supporting Egypt’s stability,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The decision could have “negative implications” on achieving common goals and interests between the two countries, it added.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had been scheduled to meet the US delegation led by Kushner, a son-in-law to US President Donald Trump and a close adviser, on Wednesday in Cairo to discuss the Middle East.
But the meeting was canceled immediately after the ministry released its statement, a copy of Shoukry’s schedule sent out to journalists showed.
A foreign ministry official told Reuters the meeting had been canceled but did not give a reason. A US embassy official in Cairo said Kushner’s meeting with Shoukry had never been set in stone because “the schedule was never fixed.” (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein and Arwa Gaballa)
Egypt cancels Kushner meeting with minister after denial of aid
Egypt cancels Kushner meeting with minister after denial of aid
Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office
- The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.
