United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Egypt a “critical partner” in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas — but he did not comment specifically on CNN’s reporting that Egypt ultimately scuttled a deal by quietly changing the terms of the proposal.
“I can’t comment on the details of the negotiations,” said Blinken in response to a question from Democratic Rep. Grace Meng at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing about the reporting.
The top US diplomat said that while Egypt is also a “critical partner” in getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza, he does have “deep concern” about the closing of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza that was recently seized by Israel.
“It’s important, I think, politically, for the Egyptians to show that they are a critical actor in providing assistance,” Blinken said, adding that it would still be challenging to reopen the crossing “because of combat activities … near and around the gate.”
Egypt’s response: In response to a request for comment from the Egyptian government, a senior Egyptian source told CNN, “Some parties play a game of accusing the mediators, blaming and accusing them of bias in order to evade making the required decisions. Egypt is surprised by the attempts of some parties to deliberately insult the Egyptian efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Services, then issued a lengthy response calling the story “wrong” and “devoid of any information or facts,” without offering specifics.
“The ongoing attempts to cast doubt and insult the Egyptian mediation efforts and roles, with allegations that contradict reality, will only lead to further complicating the situation in Gaza and the entire region, and may push the Egyptian side to take a decision to withdraw completely from their mediation role in the current conflict,” Rashwan said in a statement.
CNN’s Michael Callahan contributed reporting to this post.
This post has been updated with Egypt’s response to CNN’s story.
