Blinken in Egypt on tour to seek ‘enduring end’ to war on Gaza as Israel kills 99 people overnight

Palestinian Territories – AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Egypt on Tuesday as part of his latest Middle East crisis tour, seeking a new cease-fire and “an enduring end” to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Heavy strikes and fighting in Gaza killed at least 99 people overnight, mostly women and children, said the health ministry in the territory that has been under almost four months of bombardment.

Fears grew for more than a million Palestinians crowded into the far southern Rafah area as the battlefront draws ever closer.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Monday that the military “will reach places where we have not yet fought… right up to the last Hamas bastion, which is Rafah”, on the Egyptian border.

Blinken — on his fifth regional tour since Israel launched the bloodiest ever war on Gaza — met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a day after he held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.

The talks focused on efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza, swapping detainees and the entry of aid to end the human suffering in the strip, the presidency said in a statement.

Sisi highlighted Egypt’s efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza in coordination with international relief agencies, the statement said.

The Egyptian leader underlined the pivotal role played by the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in providing aid to Gazans, even as many countries – including the US – have cut off aid to the agency amid allegations that some of its staffers helped Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Blinken said the US is keen to pursue joint efforts with Egypt to achieve calm and prevent an expansion of the Gaza conflict, the statement said.

The top US diplomat also hailed Egypt’s efforts to boost regional security and stability, it added.

The US top envoy was later expected in Qatar and then Israel, hoping to shore up support for a truce deal that was hashed out in Paris in January but has not yet been signed off on by either Hamas or Israel.

Israeli troops, with air and naval support, have been engaged in heavy urban combat centred on Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Younis, the hometown of Hamas’s Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, much of which has been reduced to rubble.

Israel accuses Sinwar of masterminding the October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s withering military campaign has killed at least 27,585 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

– ‘No place is safe’ –

The army said Tuesday that “over the past day, dozens of terrorists have been killed and approximately 80 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity have been apprehended, including a number of terrorists that took part in the October 7 massacre”.

An AFP journalist said overnight strikes rocked Khan Younis and that two air strikes also struck Rafah.

“No place is safe, no place at all — where shall we go?” one Palestinian, Mohamad Kozaat, said after six members of his family, including his daughter, were wounded in an Israeli strike on the border town.

The United States has strongly backed its top regional ally Israel with munitions and diplomatic support, but also urged steps to reduce civilian casualties and to eventually move toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

The truce Blinken is hoping to seal proposes a six-week pause to fighting as Hamas frees Israelis in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and more aid enters Gaza, according to a Hamas source.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced divisions within his cabinet and public fury over the fate of the Israelis held in Gaza, said Israel “will not accept” demands Hamas has made for an exchange involving thousands of prisoners.

The premier’s right-wing Likud party quoted him as saying the terms “should be similar to the previous agreement” in late November, which saw a more limited ratio of Palestinian prisoners exchanged for captives.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a phone call also told Netanyahu on Monday that “only a negotiated two-state solution would open up the prospect of a sustainable solution to the Middle East conflict”.

And French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, on his first visit to the region since taking office, urged the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks “without delay”.