Officials say message has been passed to State Department and members of Congress and also conveyed to Israel and its Western European allies, including Britain, France and Germany
CAIRO — Egypt has launched a behind-the-scenes diplomatic blitz to try to head off US President Donald Trump’s proposal for the mass relocation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Egypt has warned that such a plan could undermine its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of stability and American influence in the Middle East for decades. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has not publicly responded to Trump’s stunning proposal that most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians be relocated and the United States take charge of rebuilding the territory. The 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas, which began when the Palestinian terror group led thousands of terrorists on a devastating invasion of southern Israel, had reduced large parts of Gaza to rubble before afragile ceasefire took hold last month. Ad Feedback But Egyptian officials, speaking Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said Cairo has made clear to the Trump administration and Israel that it will resist any such proposal, and that the peace deal with Israel — which has stood for nearly half a century — is at risk.
February 5, 2025. (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) CAIRO — Egypt has launched a behind-the-scenes diplomatic blitz to try to head off US President Donald Trump’s proposal for the mass relocation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Egypt has warned that such a plan could undermine its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of stability and American influence in the Middle East for decades.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has not publicly responded to Trump’s stunning proposal that most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians be relocated and the United States take charge of rebuilding the territory. The 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas, which began when the Palestinian terror group led thousands of terrorists on a devastating invasion of southern Israel, had reduced large partsof Gaza to rubble before a fragile ceasefire took hold last month. Ad Feedback But Egyptian officials, speaking Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said Cairo has made clear to the Trump administration and Israel that it will resist any such proposal, and that the peace deal with Israel — which has stood for nearly half a century — is at risk. One official said the message has been delivered to the Pentagon, the State Department, and members of the US Congress. A second official said it has also been conveyed to Israel and its Western European allies, including Britain, France, and Germany.A Western diplomat in Cairo, also speaking anonymously because the discussions have not been made public, confirmed receiving the message from Egypt through multiple channels. The diplomat said Egypt was very serious and viewed the plan as a threat to its national security. The diplomat said Egypt had rejected proposals from the Biden administration and European countries to take in some Gazan refugees early in the war, which was sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The earlier proposals were broached privately, while Trump announced his plan at a White House press conference alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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