Meeting comes as starvation continues to spread in Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Washington on Wednesday to discuss regional security, including a ceasefire agreement in Syria and the security situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The two discussed the trilateral agreement between the US, Jordan and Syria to maintain the ceasefire in Syria, according to a statement from the State Department.
"The Secretary stressed the need for dialogue to address the present crisis in southern Syria and underscored the importance of protecting civilians on all sides," said the statement.
"The Secretary and the Foreign Minister also discussed the security situations in the region including Gaza and the West Bank," it added.
The meeting came amid growing alarm from humanitarian agencies over mass starvation in Gaza, where Palestinians have been enduring a blockade on food and aid.
On Wednesday, the Gaza Health Ministry said that 10 Palestinians died of starvation and malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll since October 2023 to 111.
Israel has killed more than 59,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since the start of its brutal assault in October 2023, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system and led to severe food shortages.
An Anadolu reporter asked Rubio ahead of the meeting at the State Department whether the US is taking any concrete steps to stop the starvation in Gaza, but he did not respond.
