The diplomatic heads of Egypt and the United States discuss the events in Gaza

CAIRO, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) — Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss recent events in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian said Foreign Ministry today.

The ministry said in a statement that Shoukry said during the conversation that Egypt regretted the fact that the UN Security Council did not adopt a resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza “due to the repeated use of the unjustified veto by the United States.”

Egypt's top diplomatic chief stressed the need to reach a “full ceasefire” in Gaza to save the lives of civilians, defuse the situation and begin a “serious dialogue” on the future approach to the Palestinian cause.

Shoukry and Blinken discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement on the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners “that would allow for the implementation of a ceasefire lasting several weeks,” the statement said.

At Tuesday's Security Council meeting, the United States vetoed a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, which has been under Israeli attacks since Hamas, the ruling group in Gaza, launched a deadly Oct. 7 attack Surprise attack on Israel launched.

The current escalation in Israel has since caused the deaths of 29,410 Palestinians and left 69,465 injured, according to data released today by the Ministry of Health in Gaza. End