Peloni: While Qatar moves closer to Washington, Egypt moves further away… The regional contest between the US and Egypt continues to grow and the consequence of this will likely add to the causes for Hamas’ ultimate rejection of Trump’s 20 Point Plan.
A resolution brokered by others, or one that diminishes Egypt’s role as the indispensable mediator, threatens Cairo’s geopolitical influence
Khaled Hassan, Mohamed Saad Khiralla | Middle East Forum | October 2, 2025
President Donald Trump welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Monday, April 3, 2017, at the West Wing entrance of the White House in Washington, D.C. ( Photo by The White House from Washington, DC – Foreign Leader Visits, Public Domain, Wikipedia)
Egypt is playing a dangerous double game. While publicly aligned with American efforts to stabilize the region, the Cairo regime undermines President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. Ziyad al-Nakhalah, secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, fired the first rhetorical shot against the U.S.-Israeli proposal from the heart of Cairo, where he resides under the security and control of the Egyptian state. Reports confirm that Cairo has not only provided him a safe haven but also granted formal residency permits to him and other militant leaders, effectively institutionalizing their presence.
Al-Nakhalah’s statement, dismissing the plan as a “recipe for the continuation of aggression,” was not an independent act of defiance; it is inconceivable that a designated terrorist leader could operate brazenly from any capital, let alone that of a U.S. ally, without the tacit approval of the host country’s security apparatus.
Nor was this episode an isolated incident, but rather, part of a pattern of calculated Egyptian obstruction. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declined an invitation to the White House and sent a subordinate to a critical summit on the Gaza war, demonstrating a lack of commitment to the U.S.-led diplomatic process. To date, Sisi remains the only leader of a major Arab nation who has not met with Trump since his November 2024 election for direct talks on Gaza; Sisi instead opted for a military build-up in Sinai. Moreover, reports indicate that Egypt has delayed a visit by Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, “until further notice,” effectively declaring him persona non grata due to his support for Israel, despite Huckabee’s close ties to Trump and the need to discuss the proposed peace plan for Gaza.
That was another good article but the authors should have gone further.
After Israel discovered that Sisi and his family were making tons of money by taking bribes from Hamas in order to look the other way while Hamas was smuggling in tunnel construction equipment, weapons and terrorists all the while pretending to be a legitimate peace negotiator, the US should have immediately excluded Egypt from any further negotiations and publicly dressed down Sisi, in the way that only President Trump can do.
Now this? Trump should immediately cut off all aid to Egypt. You know the $1.5 billion dollars per year!
@leonkushner
I agree 100%!
Squeeze the refugees up against the Egyptian border and record Egyptian forces mowing them down with machine gun fire. Who would be committing genocide now?
I like the way you think!