Israeli war in Gaza: Leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Palestinian Authority meet to discuss

The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority - which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank -met on Wednesday in the southern Red Sea city of Aqaba to discuss the war in Gaza and surging violence in the West Bank.

Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have continually called for an immediate cease-fire and have met several times during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The summit comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the region.

Egypt and Jordan have acted as peace brokers in past conflicts between Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Both nations have accused Israel of trying to liquidate Palestinian demand for statehood by driving Palestinians off Gaza.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 23,200 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

About two-thirds of the dead are women and children, health officials say.

The death toll does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Hundreds of people have been killed in recent days as the Israeli offensive’s focus shifts to the southern city of Khan Younis and built-up refugee camps in the central Gaza.

The entire population of 2.3 million people is also in a food crisis, with 576,000 people at catastrophic or starvation levels.

In the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas overwhelmed Israel’s defenses and stormed through several communities, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mainly civilians.

They abducted around 250 others, nearly half of whom have been released.