dpa
Washington
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to travel to Egypt on Tuesday, in his latest attempt to push for an end to the conflict in Gaza.
Blinken was travelling to Egypt to co-chair a dialogue which aims to strengthen bilateral relationship between Cairo and Washington "and deepen economic development, as well as increase people-to-people ties through culture and education,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
"In addition to co-chairing the strategic dialogue, the Secretary will meet with Egyptian officials to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security,” the Monday statement continued.
The visit was set to last until Thursday.
Qatar, the US and Egypt have been mediating between Israel and Palestinian organisation Hamas for months to achieve a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages kept by the militant group for Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli attacks, meanwhile, continued on the besieged Gaza Strip.
The territory’s civil defence said its workers managed to retrieve the bodies of four killed Palestinians from the scene of an attack on the Daraj neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, while five others remain trapped under the rubble.
The attack, it said in a statement, targeted a residential home that belonged to the Hassouna family. The home was sheltering displaced people from the Hijazi and al-Riashi families. Several others have been wounded in the attack, the civil defence added, without providing an exact figure.
The war in Gaza began after an unprecedented massacre October 7 which saw fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian organisations invade southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking some 250 others as hostages into Gaza.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 98,000 others injured since the start of the war according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza.