Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II called on Thursday during their meeting in Cairo to stop the war in Gaza, and warned of the expansion of the conflict to include the entire region.
In a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting, Sisi and Abdullah II called for an immediate cessation of the Israeli war and affirmed their rejection of the policy of collective punishment of the Gaza Strip and the forced displacement of its residents to Egypt or Jordan.
Abdullah II and al-Sisi also called for the protection of Palestinian civilians, the lifting of the siege and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Strip.
They warned that "the non-cessation of the war, its expansion and the spread of its effects will move the region to a dangerous slide that threatens to cause a catastrophe to enter the region with its consequences feared," and renewed their condemnation of the bombing of the Baptist Hospital in Gaza, which resulted in hundreds of martyrs and injuries, and described the targeting of this medical facility as a dangerous escalation.
The meeting between Sisi and Abdullah II took place two days before an international summit called by Egypt on Saturday as part of a move to stop the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, which has so far left about 3800,12 dead and more than <>,<> injured.
For his part, the Jordanian Royal Court said that the king returned to the country at the end of a short visit to Egypt, noting that he and the Egyptian president called for an end to the war on Gaza and stressed their rejection of any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians to the two countries.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi Receives Commander of US Central Command https://t.co/V3C8UjerRw #President_Abdel-Fattah_El-Sisi #الجمهورية_الجديدة #موقع_الرئاسة
— Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt (@EGPresidency_AR) October 19, 2023
Top priority
Earlier in the day, the Egyptian president received the commander of the US Central Command, General Michael Corella.
The Egyptian presidency said that Sisi reviewed – during the meeting with Corella – Cairo's efforts to reduce the escalation, stressing the importance of concerted efforts of the international community to push towards containing the crisis situation "and stop its escalation in dangerous directions."
She added that the discussion covered the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, noting that the president stressed the importance of delivering aid to the Strip as a "top priority."
Cairo announced at dawn today that the president and his US counterpart Joe Biden agreed – during a phone call – to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing in a sustainable manner.
Biden has announced that the first humanitarian aid will enter through the Rafah crossing by Friday, most likely.
In another development, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Minister Hakan Fidan discussed today with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry the war on Gaza.