Blinken turns to Egypt to calm Middle East tensions

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken jetted to Egypt on Wednesday as he pressed ahead with a diplomatic mission aimed at shoring up a cease-fire that ended an 11day war between Israel and Gaza.

Blinken landed in Cairo a day after holding intensive talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. In Egypt, he met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and other top officials. Later he travelled to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II.

Blinken has vowed to "rally international support" to rebuild the destruction in hardhit Gaza while promising to make sure that none of the aid reaches Hamas. He is instead trying to bolster Hamas' rival, the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority.

Blinken has set modest goals for the trip, his first official visit to the Middle East as secy of state. His main goals have been to help rebuild Gaza and lower the tensions in contested Jerusalem that helped fuel the war.

But he has made it made clear the U.S. has no immediate plans to pursue peace talks between the sides and done little to address the underlying causes of the decades-long conflict, though he expressed hope for creating a "better environment" that might lead to negotiations.

In Cairo, Blinken on Wednesday met with el-Sissi for nearly two hours. Meeting with American diplomatic staff afterwards, he described Egypt as a "real and effective partner" that is helping "build something positive."

"I think we both believe strongly that Palestinians and Israelis deserve equally to live in safety and security to enjoy equal measures of freedom, opportunity and dignity. And we're working on that together," Blinken said.

Both Egypt and Jordan are key U.S. allies that have peace agreements with Israel and frequently serve as mediators between Israel and the Palestinians. Egypt maintains ties with Hamas, but also enforces a tight blockade on Gaza, along with Israel, with a shared goal of preventing the Islamic group from arming.

On the other hand, Member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to set up a permanent commission to report on human rights violations in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

If passed, it would mark an unprecedented level of scrutiny authorised by the UN's top human rights body.