Egyptian, Jordanian Foreign Ministers To Attend Arab-US Meeting In Riyadh On Gaza Situation

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi will participate in a six-party Arab ministerial meeting hosted by Riyadh, joined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the situation in Gaza.

"Shoukry heads for the Saudi capital Riyadh Saturday … to participate in the World Economic Forum, in addition to the holding of important ministerial meetings on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian cause," an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said.
The foreign minister will also take part in a number of important meetings about the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian cause, it added.

"The gatherings include a meeting of the six Arab countries group concerned with following upon the situation in Gaza and the group's meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and another ministerial meeting that brings together a number of states concerned with solving the Palestinian cause at the international level," the statement said.

In a statement, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said that Safadi began a working visit to Riyadh to participate in the special meeting of the World Economic Forum hosted by Saudi Arabia.
It said that the Jordanian foreign minister will also participate "in a ministerial meeting of the six Arab states concerned with monitoring the situation in Gaza, and in a meeting of the six Arab states with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken."

They will also meet with "a number of European countries," the statement said.
The World Economic Forum will be held in Riyadh on Monday and Tuesday under the theme "Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development," with the presence of several heads of state, more than 1,000 senior officials, international experts, opinion leaders, and thinkers from 92 countries, according to Saudi media reports.
In March, Cairo hosted an Arab ministerial meeting attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud, Qatari Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Jordanian Ayman Safadi, Emirati Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimi, and the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein Al-Sheikh.
Blinken joined this meeting, arriving in the region for his sixth visit since the Israeli war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,400 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 77,400 injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.



*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala -