Sisi, King Abdullah II stress urgent need for Gaza reconstruction without displacement of Palestinians

In a phone call on Wednesday evening, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II agreed on the need for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to begin immediately and without displacing the enclave’s Palestinian residents, according to a statement by the spokesperson of the Egyptian Presidency.

The leaders of Egypt and Jordan exchanged views in the call as both countries field questions on the stream of public comments in which United States President Donald Trump spoke of plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, resettle them in Egypt and Jordan and undertake a US-led redevelopment of the coastal enclave to create “the Riviera of the Middle East.” 

Following the king’s Tuesday visit to the White House, the readout from his call with Sisi on Wednesday said the leaders addressed the need to fully implement the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, continue the release of Palestinian and Israeli captives, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid as part of efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Goods began to enter the strip with the first phase of the ceasefire, which came into effect on January 19, bringing calm to Gaza after months of Israeli strikes and ground assaults.

A prisoner exchange has also begun, with Hamas delivering 33 of the Israeli abductees in its custody since October 7, 2023, while Israel has released over 300 Palestinian captives from its jails. 

Yet the course set out by Egypt, Qatar and the US for the deal to progress to a permanent ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has wavered over recent days, with talks set to take place in Doha toward phase two of the deal delayed.

Hamas has said it will not release prisoners it was due to hand over on Saturday, citing Israeli violations of the ceasefire terms, including opening fire at civilians in Gaza and blocking the delivery of sufficient quantities of aid, equipment and materials to provide temporary housing to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Palestinians.

In response, leaders in both Israel and the US have insisted that Hamas proceed with the releases, with Trump threatening to let “hell break out” if Hamas does not release all the Israeli captives it still holds by Saturday.

Speaking on Wednesday, Sisi and King Abdullah II also addressed developments elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, noting that they called for an end to Israeli forces’ practices against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israeli forces launched a new offensive on refugee camps in the West Bank at the end of January, attacking the Jenin, Nur Shams and Faraa camps, expelling 40,000 people from their homes according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Seventy Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the beginning of 2025, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. 

"To achieve lasting peace in the Middle East,” both Sisi and King Abdullah expressed their commitment to working closely with Trump, according to the readout of their Wednesday call. 

The statement said both leaders would cooperate to see the US president lead a path toward the two-state solution for peace between Israel and Palestine, reiterating their joint stance in favor of “the long-awaited goal of establishing a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with relevant United Nations resolutions, while ensuring peaceful coexistence among all the region's peoples.”

Additionally, the statement underscored the strong ties between Egypt and Jordan, emphasizing their shared commitment to coordinating on regional issues in service of both nations’ interests and to support the broader Arab world. 

Ahead of King Abdullah’s visit to Washington, DC, Trump threatened to withhold US military aid to Egypt and Jordan, both among the top recipients of US aid, if they refuse to take in the Palestinians he plans to displace as part of his vision for the Gaza Strip.

Egypt currently receives US$1.5 billion in annual military aid from the US while Jordan receives around $1.72 billion. 

King Abduallah and Sisi also discussed coordination between Arab League states in their Wednesday call, ahead of the organization’s emergency summit in Cairo on February 27 where the states aim to “respond to the aspirations of the region's peoples for peace, stability and prosperity.”

Following his Tuesday meeting with Trump, King Abdullah had highlighted Egypt's readiness to propose an alternative solution to the displacement of Palestinians, citing planned consultations in Saudi Arabia under the coordination of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atty also visited Washington, DC on Monday where he met one-on-one with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and held another meeting with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and MENA Senior Director on the National Security Council Eric Trager.

In both meetings, Abdel Atty stressed the need to start the reconstruction of Gaza without displacing Palestinians, and the importance of reaching a political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that allows the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, according to the ministry’s statements.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also released a statement on Monday, reaffirming support for the Palestinian peoples’ right of return, calling on the international community to take a stand in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Since Trump announced his plans for Gaza, schemes for displacing Palestinians to other Arab countries have been echoed by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who suggested establishing a Palestinian homeland in Saudi territory. 

Trump said earlier in the week that he would convince Sisi, as well as bin Salman, to adopt his vision for depopulating Gaza, removing Hamas from power and turning the area into a real estate development under US ownership to be reconstructed by other countries in the Middle East. He insisted that regional leaders will be excited for his plan once they speak to him.

Meanwhile, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have released multiple public statements in which they categorically rejected any proposals for the forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands since Trump first floated the idea.