Egypt hosts French, Jordanian leaders for Gaza summit

By Ibrahim Khazen and Rania Abu Shamala

CAIRO / ISTANBUL (AA) – A trilateral summit between the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, and France opened in Cairo on Monday to discuss the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.​​​​​​​

The Egyptian television showed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi shaking hands with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and Jordan’s King Abdullah II before their summit talks at the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in eastern Cairo.

Egypt’s state news agency MENA said the summit will discuss regional developments, including Israeli attacks in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Macron arrived in Cairo on Sunday for a three-day visit to Egypt for talks with Egyptian officials on bilateral ties and regional developments. His trip began with a tour of the Grand Egyptian Museum in western Cairo and a walk through its historic streets, especially the Khan el-Khalili bazaar.

Monday’s summit comes as the Israeli army escalated its attacks on the Palestinian territory, where nearly 1,400 people have been killed and 3,400 others injured in airstrikes since March 18, despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

More than 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.