US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday sought pressure against Hamas in talks with the leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both eager to highlight their influence despite at times uneasy alliances with Washington.
Since Hamas militants' bloody October 7 assault on Israel, which has launched relentless air strikes on Gaza in retaliation, Blinken has toured seven Middle Eastern countries in support of Israel, where he will return Monday.
Egypt was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, in 1979, and has been one of the top recipients of US assistance since. Blinken"highlighted the United States' unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages and preventing the conflict from spreading", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
In his meeting with Blinken Sunday, Sisi said"Israel's response has gone beyond the right to self defence and amounts to collective punishment", as the United Nations warned of worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza.Prince Mohammed is a deeply controversial figure in the United States, where intelligence linked him to the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned Blinken on Friday that the displacement of Gazans would amount to a"second Nakba" -- when over 760,000 Palestinians were expelled from their lands in the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
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