Egypt's Sisi urges Trump to secure Middle East peace

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has urged his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to "reach a permanent and historic peace agreement" to end Israel's war in Gaza and secure peace in the Middle East in a phone call on Saturday.

According to a statement from Sisi's office, the Egyptian president underlined 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."

Saturday's phone call was the first between the two leaders since Trump repeatedly floated a plan to "clean out" Gaza and relocate Palestinians into Jordan and Egypt, which Sisi and other Arab leaders have strongly rejected.

The proposal has received widespread condemnation, with critics calling it "ethnic cleansing" and a "war crime."

On Wednesday, Sisi called the proposal "an injustice that we cannot take part in" and said he was "determined to work with President Trump, who seeks to achieve the desired peace based on the two-state solution".

Trump, however, insisted again on Thursday that Egypt and Jordan "will do it", adding: "We do a lot for them."

Delicate balancing act

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 Israel's war on Gaza, Egypt has played a delicate balancing act, maintaining its mediator role in the conflict while positioning itself as a champion of the Palestinian cause.

"If I were to ask this of the Egyptian people, all of them would take to the streets to say 'no'," Sisi said on Wednesday of the proposed plan.

At a meeting in Cairo on Saturday, top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar also rejected any forcible displacement of Palestinians, according to a joint statement.

On Friday, state-linked media in Egypt broadcast footage of people protesting near Egypt's border with Gaza against Palestinian displacement.

The read-out from Sisi's office on Saturday did not mention the proposal but said the call "witnessed a positive dialogue" between the presidents on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, brokered by Egypt, the US and Qatar.