Albares’s regional tour started in Jordan on Tuesday, where he is pushing “for a way out” of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry highlighted Egypt and Jordan as key to the ongoing negotiations aimed at achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and releasing captives held in the strip.

“Egypt, as the focal point for negotiations and where some of the main actors with the capacity to solve the serious Israeli-Palestinian conflict are located, will be the second stop,” the ministry said.

During his visit to Cairo, Albares will be received at “the highest level by the Egyptian authorities,” the ministry said.

He will also meet with Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry on Thursday to discuss possible collaboration between Egypt and Spain towards promoting peace.

Shoukry and Albares will hold a press conference later on the day.

The Spanish FM also plans to hold meetings with Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit and representatives from the organization as well as Spanish media correspondents.

Albares will start his visit with a meeting with the heads of UN agencies operating in Egypt on Wednesday to recognize their extraordinary work, said the statement.

Since the outbreak of the Israeli war in Gaza, Albares has made two tours to the Middle East, including to Lebanon and Iraq in January and to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in February.

Albares’s tours have sought to promote regional peace amid the Gaza war and its spillovers.

Ceasefire negotiations stall

The war in Gaza is in its sixth month with a quarter of the 2.3 million people in the strip on the brink of famine amid unrelenting Israeli attacks and impeded ground aid deliveries.

Weeks of talks involving negotiators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States have failed to achieve a truce in Gaza before the fasting month of Ramadan, which started this week.

Israel and Hamas are “not near” a deal to implement ceasefire and release captives, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday, a week after latest talks that took place in Cairo between mediators stalled.

Qatar warned the situation remains “very complicated.”

Hamas has demanded that Israel fully withdraw from Gaza and permanently end the war before captives are released.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected these demands, vowing to eliminate the Islamic movement.

With the commencement of Ramadan in most of Arab countries including Egypt and Palestine on Monday, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry called for intensifying efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire deal.

Hossam Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told CNN on Sunday that there are “no dates” for the resumption of ceasefire talks in Cairo with the engagement of Hamas negotiators.

The Israeli attacks in Gaza since 7 October have killed over 31,184 people and injured 72,889 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza on Tuesday.

The ministry says 72 percent of casualties are women and children.

Furthermore, malnutrition and dehydration has claimed the lives of 27 people in Gaza, the ministry added.