United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita in a phone call on Wednesday to coordinate the two country’s responses to the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.
The top diplomats discussed the urgency of preventing a potential regional escalation following the attacks and efforts to secure the release of more than 150 hostages taken by Hamas, according to a readout by State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Secretary Blinken also “praised King Mohammed VI’s commitment to peace and security in the region and welcomed continued close cooperation between Morocco and the United States.”
At an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers held also on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt, Minister Bourita highlighted King Mohammed VI’s call for peace, cooperation, and the construction of a prosperous space for all peoples in Palestine, emphasizing the need to move away from conflict and violence.
Bourita expressed Morocco’s readiness to participate in Arab and international efforts to achieve the Palestinian people’s aspirations for an independent state with East Al-Quds as its capital based on the borders of June 4, 1967, in line with the two-state solution that has had overwhelming support in the UN General Assembly since the mid-1970s.