New York Times: US ambassador to Tel Aviv to travel to Egypt to discuss Gaza war.
Russia Today quoted the New York Times as saying that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is set to make an official visit to Egypt in the coming days to discuss developments in the Gaza war with senior Egyptian officials, including Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atafi.
According to the report, the visit comes at a time when relations between Tel Aviv and Cairo have become increasingly strained over the Gaza war. Three US and Middle Eastern officials, who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity, said the main goal of the mission is to ease growing tensions between two US strategic allies, Egypt and Israel, both of which benefit from extensive military aid from Washington.
Noting that this will be the first official visit to Egypt by a US ambassador to Israel in decades, they added: It is not yet clear what role the current US ambassador to Egypt, Hiro Mustafa George, appointed during the Biden administration, will play in these talks.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to media requests for comment.
According to the Russia Today network, recent tensions between Cairo and Tel Aviv have worsened after Israel’s ground offensive on Gaza City, where nearly a million Palestinians had taken refuge until recently. On the other hand, Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv officials have raised concerns with American officials about the buildup of Egyptian military forces in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Egyptian government stressed in an official statement last week that the presence of its forces in the Sinai is solely to “defend the country’s borders against any threat” and rejected any claims by Israeli officials that they violate the 1979 peace treaty between Cairo and Tel Aviv.
Two officials familiar with the matter also told the New York Times that the talks will also discuss a new plan that US President Donald Trump has put forward with leaders of Arab and Muslim countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.