CAIRO ( WNAM MONITORING): The Egyptian capital of Cairo is scheduled to host a seven-party meeting on Saturday that will discuss developments in the Gaza situation following the ceasefire agreement and ways to support the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
According to the Egyptian state news agency, the meeting will be attended by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
The secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein al-Sheikh, and the Arab League Secretary-General Ahmad Aboul-Gheit will also attend the meeting.
Before the meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will meet separately with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, and both will hold another meeting with the participation of al-Sheikh, the Egyptian broadcaster added.
The Jordanian state-owned Al-Mamlaka news TV said the expanded meeting “will discuss regional developments, particularly efforts to stabilize the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.”
It added that the discussions will also cover “ways to ensure the sufficient and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid across the entire Gaza Strip, as well as the necessity of supporting UNRWA and enabling it to fulfill its UN mandate.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli government formally implemented its ban on UNRWA’s activities in occupied East Jerusalem, forcing the agency to vacate its facilities in the city.
Israel had ordered UNRWA to shut down all its operations in East Jerusalem by Thursday, in line with a directive communicated in a letter from Danny Danon, Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Jan. 24.
On Jan. 19, a ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel went into effect, initially lasting 42 days, during which negotiations will continue for subsequent phases of the deal. The agreement is mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with support from the US.
Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
