Blinken, Arab FMs to discuss Palestine issue in Cairo Thursday

Arab foreign ministers and a top Palestinian official will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo Thursday as he pushes for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip during his latest tour of the region.
Blinken will meet foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, as well as the Emirati international cooperation minister and the secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, according to an Egyptian foreign ministry note.
The note did not give details on the subject of the meeting, but Egyptian security sources said Arab nations would present plans for a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Such plans had been put on hold as mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the US sought to secure a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Blinken has said he would pursue conversations on arrangements for the governance, security and redevelopment of post-conflict Gaza, and for lasting regional peace during his tour.
Talks for a ceasefire deal continued in Qatar this week following failed attempts to secure an agreement ahead of start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Blinken arrived Wednesday in the Middle East to bolster international efforts to secure a truce in the Israel-Hamas war, as the threat of famine looms in besieged Gaza.
Global concern has mounted over the military conflict now in its sixth month, in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas.
The latest fighting included an Israeli assault on Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, a vast complex crowded with patients and people seeking refuge, where Israel says Palestinian militants are holed up.
Overnight bombings and battles across the territory killed 90 people, said the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, pushing the overall Palestinian death toll close to 32,000.
UN agencies have warned that Gaza's 2.4mn people are on the brink of famine, and UN rights chief Volker Turk said Israel may be using "starvation as a method of war".