Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty, claimed that the success of the Israel-Gaza peace is “contingent” on Israeli cooperation during an interview with Saudi channel Asharq News on Thursday.
During the interview, Abdelatty stated that the first phase of the United States-brokered deal had been “fully implemented,” despite terrorist organizations failing to complete the return of all hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which was outlined as a requirement essential to be fulfilled before the implementation of the remaining phases.
When asked why it has been “impossible” to reach the second phase of the agreement, Abdelatty stated that it is “contingent upon cooperation and commitment from the Israeli side to President Trump's plan.”
Instead, Abdelatty cited Israeli retaliation against Hamas ceasefire breaches as the barrier to “proceeding with the implementation of the second phase in its entirety.”
Abdelatty aims for Hamas to gradually surrender weapons
Abdelatty also denied that Hamas would be required to disarm in the process of implementing the deal, claiming that “Trump's plan speaks of restricting and surrendering weapons, not disarming them,” despite demilitarization and destruction of terrorist infrastructure being outlined in the plan.
Abdelatty did, however, suggest that he believed in the possibility of “the gradual surrender of weapons" within a framework agreed upon by Palestinian factions.
Additionally, Abdelatty stated that Egypt is “engaged in serious and positive dialogue with the American side” regarding the implementation of a United Nations-sanctioned International Stabilization Force in Gaza.
Abdelatty told Asharq News that he had recently spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
“We have an ongoing dialogue in which we are conveying our vision regarding the venue and timing of the conference and how to capitalize on the current momentum,” he shared, adding that Egypt is involved in discussions to determine a timeline for the deployment of the ISF.