Jordanian King travels to Cairo, to meet Egyptian President

After a four-way summit between the US, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt was cancelled in the wake of the Gaza hospital bombing, Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Thursday embarked on a visit to Cairo where he will meet President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and discuss the raging Israel-Hamas conflict, an official statement said.

“His Majesty King Abdullah II departs on a short visit to Cairo, during which His Majesty will meet with Egypt President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to discuss means of ending the Israeli aggression on Gaza,” CNN quoted Jordan’s Royal Court as saying in a social media post.

The monarch was set to welcome US President Joe Biden to Amman on Wednesday, along with other Arab leaders.

But Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority canceled the planned meeting with Biden less than 24 hours before he was set to arrive for the four-way summit.

The cancelation followed a blast in Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.

While Palestinian officials accused Israel of hitting the hospital with an airstrike, Israel laid out evidence that it said shows a misfire by militant group Islamic Jihad caused the blast.

While speaking in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Biden supported Israel’s explanation, citing US intelligence, CNN reported.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council later said that analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information suggested that Israel was “not responsible”.