Egypt and Qatar are ramping up diplomatic efforts to salvage the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, an Egyptian source said on Wednesday.
“Cairo and Doha are urging all parties to adhere to the agreement, despite political and on-the-ground complexities that are making the process increasingly difficult,” the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel said, citing the source.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Tuesday evening to end the Gaza ceasefire deal if Hamas failed to release captives by Saturday noon.
The threat came one day after Hamas said that it would delay the next hostage release in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
Jordan’s King Abdullah has discussed “dangerous developments” in Gaza and the West Bank during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a post on X by the Jordanian royal court, Reuters reports.
The phone call comes one day after the Jordanian king met with US President Donald Trump in Washington, where he reiterated his country’s “steadfast position” against Trump’s controversial Gaza displacement plan.
King Abdullah was repeatedly pressed by reporters during the meeting on whether he supported the plan but said only that Egypt was coming up with a response and that Arab nations would then discuss it at talks in Riyadh.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will not travel to Washington for talks at the White House as long as the agenda includes US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza, Reuters quotes two Egyptian security sources as saying.
Egypt has said Trump had extended an open invitation to Sisi to visit the White House earlier this month. A US official said no date for such a visit has been set. The Egyptian presidency and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty visited Washington this week. The Egyptian sources said one aim of his trip was to avert a potentially awkward presidential visit.
According to the Egyptian sources, it was made apparent to Abdelatty during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the displacement plan would be on the table if Sisi visited.
Abdelatty responded that such a meeting would be of no use, and that any discussion should be over Egypt’s own plan for reconstruction of Gaza, the sources said. Egypt has said its plan would “ensure Palestinians remain on their land”.
The Egyptian sources said Rubio did not repeat to Abdelatty previous threats by Trump to withdraw military and other aid, though he did urge Egypt to consider Trump’s plan.
