CAIRO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday in Cairo that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East.
This marks Blinken’s 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
His visit aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict.
No other regional stops, including Israel, were on his itinerary.
“We discussed the importance of getting this deal across the finish line, something we’ll continue to pursue with our Qatari counterparts,” Blinken told journalists in a joint press conference alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
“We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address risks to regional stability,” he added.
Following the meeting with Blinken, El-Sisi’s office said the pair discussed “ways to intensify joint efforts between Egypt, the US and Qatar to make progress on ceasefire negotiations and the exchange of hostages and detainees.”
El-Sisi also called for “decisive intervention to remove obstacles to the entry of huge amounts of aid” to Gaza and “ending Israeli violations in the West Bank,” it said.
Violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the war broke out in Gaza, with Israel conducting large-scale raids in recent weeks.
Blinken arrived in Cairo hours after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing 12 people and wounding more than 2,750 others.
Blinken denied reports the United States prior any knowledge or involvement in the attack which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel, the key US ally. Israel has yet to comment on the blasts.
“With regard to Lebanon, the United States did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents, and we’re still gathering information and gathering the facts,” he said in Cairo.
“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict.”
US news site Axios said that minutes before the attack, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and informed him of an imminent operation in Lebanon, without giving any details.
After months of clashes along its northern border with Lebanon, Israel on Tuesday said it was broadening the aims of the war against Hamas to include its fight against Hezbollah.
While in Cairo, Blinken also discussed strengthening US-Egyptian relations.
After Cairo, Blinken is due to head to Paris to brief his French, British and Italian counterparts.
Blinken says Gaza truce best way to ensure regional stability
https://arab.news/2ztcb
Blinken says Gaza truce best way to ensure regional stability
- This marks Blinken’s 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel
- Blinken denied reports the United States prior any knowledge or involvement in the attack which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel
US lawmakers press Israel to probe strike on reporters in Lebanon
- “The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said
- Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured
WASHINGTON: Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on journalists in southern Lebanon.
The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP — video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost her leg.
“We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that meets the international standards and to hold accountable those people who did this,” Senator Peter Welch told a news conference, with Collins by his side.
The lawmaker from Collins’s home state of Vermont said he had been pushing for answers for two years, first from the administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and now from the Republican White House of Donald Trump.
The Israeli government has “stonewalled at every single turn,” Welch added.
“With the Israeli government, we have been extremely patient, and we have done everything we reasonably can to obtain answers and accountability,” he said.
“The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said, referring to the Israeli military, adding that it has told his office its investigation into the incident is closed.
Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured.
“But I’d also like them to put pressure on their greatest ally in the Middle East, the Israeli government, to bring the perpetrators to account,” he said, echoing the lawmakers who called the attack a “war crime.”
“We’re not letting it go,” Vermont congresswoman Becca Balint said. “It doesn’t matter how long they stonewall us.”
AFP conducted an independent investigation which concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in Israel.
The findings were corroborated by other international probes, including investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.
Unlike Welch’s assertion Thursday that the Israeli probe was over, the IDF told AFP in October that “findings regarding the event have not yet been concluded.”
