US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo to shore up the ceasefire that ended the worst fighting in years between Israel and Palestinian militants. Egypt has longstanding relations with both sides in the conflict and played a key role in brokering the ceasefire after 11 days of violence.<br />'' <br />''Along with the Egyptian President, Blinken also met Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and general intelligence head Abbas Kamel at the presidential palace in Cairo. He arrived in Egypt after stops in Jerusalem and Ramallah and is also due to visit Jordan.<br />'' <br />''Yesterday, Blinken had pledged that the United States would provide new aid to help rebuild the Gaza Strip, including 5.5 million US Dollars in immediate disaster relief and nearly 33 million US Dollars for the UN Palestinian aid agency.  He also said the United States intended to ensure that Hamas, which controls Gaza and is listed by Washington as a terrorist organisation, did not benefit from the humanitarian aid.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">During the fighting, Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and its Sinai Peninsula in order to provide medical aid and evacuate wounded people. It also deployed a security delegation that shuttled between Israel and Gaza to reinforce the ceasefire after it came into effect on Friday last week.</span><br />