CAIRO (Reuters) – 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.
The presidency said in a statement they had a positive dialogue which stressed the importance of fully implementing the first and second phases of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and the need to step up humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza.
However, the statement did not mention if they discussed Trump’s statement last week that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from Gaza following 15 months of Israeli bombardments that have left most of its 2.3 million people homeless.
Critics have called his suggestion tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
Sisi rejected the idea on Wednesday, describing it as an “act of injustice”. However, on Thursday Trump reiterated his call, saying that “we do a lot for them, and they are going to do it,” in an apparent reference to U.S. aid to both Egypt and Jordan.
Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Saturday also rejected a transfer of Palestinians from their land, saying such a move would threaten regional stability, spread conflict and undermine prospects for peace.
In their call, Sisi and Trump also expressed their keenness to achieve peace and stability in the region, the Egyptian presidency statement said.
Sisi invited Trump to visit Egypt as soon as possible to discuss problems in the Middle East, the statement added. The two presidents also discussed the need to strengthen their economic and investment ties, it said.
(Reporting by Mohamed Hendawy, Ahmed Tolba and Enas Alashray; editing by Jason Neely and Angus MacSwan)
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