On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his diplomatic trip of the Middle East, meeting with Egyptian leaders in an effort to secure a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in exchange for the release of hostages.
Blinken’s visit also comes as Egypt grows increasingly concerned about Israel’s stated intentions to escalate the conflict in Gaza to areas along the Egyptian border teeming with displaced Palestinians.
Israel’s defense minister has stated that Israel’s offensive will eventually reach the town of Rafah, on the Egyptian border, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have taken safety and are now living in increasingly wretched conditions.
According to U.N. humanitarian monitors, Israeli evacuation orders now span two-thirds of Gaza’s territory, sending thousands of civilians to the border every day.
Egypt has warned that an Israeli deployment along the border would jeopardize the two countries’ peace accord, inked over four decades ago. Egypt is concerned that expanding the conflict to the Rafah area will send terrified Palestinian civilians across the border, which Egypt has stated it is keen to avoid.
Blinken, who met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo on Tuesday, has consistently stated that Palestinians cannot be forced to leave Gaza.