Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on the need to consolidate the Gaza ceasefire deal in a phone call on Saturday, the Egyptian presidency said, but it was unclear if they discussed Trump’s call for the transfer of Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan.
Saturday’s phone call was the first between the two leaders since Trump repeatedly floated a plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza into Jordan and Egypt, which al-Sisi and other Arab leaders have strongly rejected.
A statement from al-Sisi’s office said he and Trump had extended mutual invitations for state visits during the call and stressed the importance of continued “coordination and cooperation.”
Al-Sisi also noted that “the international community is counting on President Trump’s ability to reach a permanent and historic peace agreement that ends the conflict that has existed in the region for decades,” the statement said.
Trump last month suggested a plan to “clean out” the Gaza Strip, saying last Saturday he would “like Egypt to take people,” as well as Jordan.
At the time, he said he would speak to al-Sisi the following day, but Egypt later denied the call had taken place.
Both Egypt and Jordan have rejected the plan.
Trump, however, insisted again on Thursday that Egypt and Jordan “will do it”, adding: “We do a lot for them.”
Egypt is a key US ally in the region and was the only country besides Israel to receive an exemption from Trump’s foreign aid freeze last month.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Egypt has played a delicate balancing act — maintaining its mediator role in the conflict while positioning itself as a champion of the Palestinian cause.
