By Xinhua | on February 23, 2024 | 08:53
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said today.
The ministry noted in a statement that Shoukry said during the conversation that Egypt regretted the fact that the UN Security Council did not adopt a resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza “due to the repeated use of the unjustified US veto.”
Egypt's top diplomatic chief stressed the need to reach a “full ceasefire” in Gaza to save the lives of civilians, defuse the situation and begin a “serious dialogue” on the future approach to the Palestinian cause.
Shoukry and Blinken discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement on the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners “that would allow for the implementation of a ceasefire lasting several weeks,” the statement said.
At Tuesday's Security Council meeting, the United States vetoed a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, which has been under Israeli attacks since Hamas, the ruling group in Gaza, launched a deadly Oct. 7 attack Surprise attack on Israel launched.
The current escalation in Israel has since caused the deaths of 29,410 Palestinians and left 69,465 injured, according to data released today by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
(Web editor: 周雨, Zhao Jian)