US continues to seek ceasefire proposal with Hamas

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hopes to advance efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and strengthen ties with Egypt when he visits Cairo on Wednesday, his spokesman said. This comes amid concern about escalating Middle East tensions.

The top US diplomat’s visit comes as the region remains on high alert due to the risk of the Gaza war expanding, particularly after the militant group Hezbollah promised to retaliate against Israel, accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.

Israel has declined to respond to questions about the explosions. At least nine people died, and nearly 3,000 others were wounded.

Speaking at a regular briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said it was too early to tell whether the incident in Lebanon would affect Gaza ceasefire talks but said the US believed diplomacy was the way to reduce tensions.

Blinken met Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Cairo’s Al-Ittihadiya Palace on Wednesday morning before talks with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and other officials. Sisi emphasized to Blinken that all parties should act responsibly to avoid further escalations in the region, which Egypt wholly rejects. He also expressed his support of Lebanon following the Beeper attack.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi gives a televised statement on the attack in North Sinai, in Cairo, Egypt November 24, 2017 (credit: EGYPT STATE TV/ VIA REUTERS)

Miller said that in Blinken’s meetings with Egyptian officials, “squarely on the agenda is how we get a proposal that we think would secure agreement from both parties” to an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Blinken focuses on Egypt

US officials have for weeks said a new proposal would be presented soon for a deal, including the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

“There are some issues that we need to engage with the government of Egypt on as they relate to this ceasefire proposal that we are trying to bring to fruition,” Miller said.

A State Department official said Blinken will travel from Cairo to Paris on Thursday to meet with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, and Britain to discuss the Middle East, Ukraine, and other issues. The official added that Blinken will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

Blinken will not visit Israel on this trip, the first time he has skipped a stop in Washington’s closest regional ally since the Palestinian militant group Hamas sparked the war in Gaza nearly a year ago.

Miller said that was because Washington aimed to discuss bilateral issues with Egypt on this trip, and the Gaza ceasefire proposal that the US and mediators have been working on was still not ready to present to Israel.

“So it would be premature to present such a proposal or do any other diplomatic engagements,” he added.

Egypt, alongside Qatar, has been a vital intermediary in US-led diplomacy to end the war, shuttling proposals and counterproposals between Hamas and Israel. Washington has also leaned on Cairo in its efforts to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s 2.3 million war-battered residents.

Palestinian militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages in the attack on Israel last year, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people and essentially leveled the enclave, Gaza says.

In its decades-long alliance with Egypt, Washington has provided billions of dollars worth of military aid despite accusations of widespread abuses under Sisi’s government, including torture and enforced disappearances. Egypt’s government denies the allegations.

A nod to Cairo’s increased prominence came last week when Blinken waived human rights conditions in US foreign military financing to Egypt and allowed the total amount of $1.3 billion for the first time since President Joe Biden took office in 2021.

Seth Binder, director of advocacy for the Washington-based Middle East Democracy Center, said after pledging to make human rights central to US-Egypt ties, the Biden administration had “completely abandoned any pretense that human rights matter to the relationship.”

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