In this Thursday, June 21, 2018 photo, provided by Egypt's state news agency, MENA, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, center, meets with President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, second left, and Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt on the latest stop in a regional tour to discuss a blueprint for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, in Cairo, Egypt. (MENA via AP)
Republished June 21, 2018 - 12:24 PM
Original Publication Date June 21, 2018 - 4:11 AM
CAIRO - President Donald Trump's Mideast team arrived in Egypt on Thursday as part of its regional tour to discuss a blueprint for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt met with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the capital Cairo, according to a White House statement. The visit was part of efforts to overcome the towering obstacles to the deal the team is in charge of drafting.
The meeting touched upon "the need to facilitate humanitarian relief to Gaza," the statement said. The blockaded and densely populated Gaza strip, ruled by the Palestinian Hamas militant group, has sunk into a deep humanitarian crisis, especially after the increase in violence amid protests at the border with Israel in recent weeks.
Kushner has been leading efforts to broker a peace deal between the two sides. U.S. officials have said the long-awaited peace plan is near completion and should be released this summer following several postponements.
The Trump team met Tuesday with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who acknowledged the talks only after the fact.
Later on Thursday, the team travelled to Qatar and met with its emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to a White House statement. They discussed increasing co-operation between the two countries, ways to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza and possibilities for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
In Egypt, Thursday's meeting with the U.S. delegation also dealt with increasing Egyptian-American co-operation, the White House said without elaborating.
Egypt's presidency released a statement after the meeting saying it mainly discussed the Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts and co-operation. It said the meeting was attended by Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and the acting head of general intelligence Abbas Kamel.
Washington gives Egypt some $1.3 billion in annual military assistance and hundreds of millions more in civilian aid that is linked to Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel, and underpins a U.S.-Egyptian security relationship that is now mostly aimed at fighting terrorism.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018