US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with senior Egyptian officials in Cairo as part of a Middle East tour aimed at strengthening the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Reuters reported.

Egypt maintains a long-standing relationship with both parties to the conflict and has played a key role in securing the ceasefire in Gaza in coordination with the United States.

During a short visit, Blinken met with President and FM as well as the intelligence chief.

The United States and Egypt are working together to enable Israelis and Palestinians to live in safety, he said. 

“And we’ve had in Egypt a real and effective partner in dealing with the violence, bringing it to a close, relatively quickly. And now, working closely together build something positive,” he said.

Blinken has arrived in Egypt after stops in Jerusalem and Ramallah and is due to visit Jordan. On Tuesday, he pledged that the United States will provide assistance to rebuild the Gaza Strip, including $ 5.5 million in disaster relief and nearly $ 33 million for the UN Palestinian Relief Agency.

Egypt, which borders Gaza and maintains security contacts with Hamas, is likely to play a role in the direction of aid, a senior US State Department official said earlier.

During the fighting, Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula to provide medical assistance and evacuate the wounded.