Blinken visits Egypt to meet Arab foreign ministers for Gaza cease-fire talks

CAIRO

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Thursday for talks with Arab foreign ministers on a cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry during his visit, Egypt’s state news agency MENA reported.

He will also attend a meeting with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Blinken kicked off his latest regional tour on Wednesday by holding talks with officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss a cease-fire deal in Gaza. He is scheduled to visit Israel on Friday.

The top diplomat said Wednesday that the US has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that calls "for an immediate cease-fire" in Gaza that's "tied to the release" of hostages held by Hamas.

"We actually have a resolution that we put forward right now that’s before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate cease-fire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that," he told Saudi Al-Arabiya television.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding nearly 130 Israeli hostages, demands an end to Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip in return for any hostage deal with Israel.

A deal last November saw the release of 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners in exchange for 240 Palestinians, including 71 women and 169 children.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and more than 74,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul