Cairo not rushing to mend ties with Riyadh.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, in an article referring to the widespread disagreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on regional issues, stated: The Cairo government, which, with the coordination of Doha, succeeded in establishing a ceasefire in Gaza with minimal political damage to the resistance, is now facing increasing differences with Saudi Arabia.
According to the newspaper, now at the peak of strategic divergence from Gaza to Iran and the conflict over regional influence and the gap in political views, Egyptian-Saudi relations are not like in previous months, but have become tense. This is in the shadow of the conflict of interests and deepening differences on regional issues, which indicate the height of the gap between the two countries.
Egyptian sources added: Riyadh had long been cooperating with Cairo to reach a ceasefire agreement, and together with its ally Abu Dhabi, they hoped that agreements would be reached that included many concessions to the detriment of the resistance to the point of surrendering, but this led Egypt, based on its view of the resistance as a bulwark that should not fall, to act alone (without Riyadh’s participation) in some stages of the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, and even Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi described Israel as an enemy for the first time shortly before the Gaza ceasefire was established.
This is while Saudi Arabia still considers the “Al-Aqsa Storm” an event that has disrupted the path to full normalization of relations with Israel and adherence to the “Abraham Accords”; agreements for which communication channels between Riyadh and Tel Aviv had previously been established.
Egyptian sources said: At the same time as the ceasefire in Gaza, US President Donald Trump is trying to expand these agreements, while the UAE is playing a pivotal role in this matter and is trying to create a regional atmosphere that will allow Saudi Arabia to join it later without objection.