AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday for talks on “dangerous developments” in war-torn Gaza, the royal palace said.
The meeting will be held in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba as part of “Jordan’s efforts to coordinate Arab positions to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and ensure the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid,” a statement said.
Their talks would also focus on “the situation in the West Bank,” which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
King Abdullah, in a meeting Sunday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, called on the United States to press Israel for an “immediate ceasefire” and to put an end to the humanitarian crisis brought by the Gaza war.
Aid organizations have warned of the dire situation in the Palestinian territory, where war erupted after Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel has responded with relentless bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza that have killed at least 23,210 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
On Sunday, King Abdullah had also warned Blinken against “the catastrophic repercussions of continuation of the aggression against Gaza, underlining the necessity of ending the tragic humanitarian crisis” there, the palace said.
In Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Blinken urged Israel to spare the lives of Palestinian civilians in the conflict.
The “daily toll on civilians in Gaza, particularly children, is far too high,” Blinken said.
He also called on Israel to “stop taking steps that undercut Palestinians’ ability to govern themselves effectively.”
Blinken is on a tour aimed at ending the possible spillover of the Israel-Hamas war into the region and preventing what he called an “endless cycle of violence.”