Blinken says ceasefire 'best chance' to end Gaza humanitarian crisis

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday met with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty in Cairo to discuss stalled efforts for a ceasefire agreement mediated by Washington, Cairo and Doha.

"We discussed the importance of getting this deal across the finish line, something we'll continue to pursue with our Qatari counterparts," Blinken said in his joint press conference with Abdelatty, in Blinken's 10th trip to the region since the 7 October attack and subsequent Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

"We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address risks to regional stability," he added, as quoted by AFP.

He also denied US knowledge of the pager attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Tuesday. 

"With regard to Lebanon, the United States did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents, and we're still gathering information and gathering the facts," he said.

"Broadly speaking, we've been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict."

The Egyptian presidency said following the press conference that the two sides held talks on "ways to intensify joint efforts between Egypt, the US and Qatar to make progress on ceasefire negotiations and the exchange of hostages and detainees".

The president's office called for "decisive intervention to remove obstacles to the entry of huge amounts of aid" to Gaza and "ending Israeli violations in the West Bank".