U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is slated to travel to Cairo for discussions with high-ranking Egyptian officials. This visit comes at a time when relations between Israel and Egypt are becoming increasingly strained.
These upcoming talks will center on the ongoing war in Gaza, according to three U.S. and Middle Eastern officials who shared sensitive details anonymously. This is believed to be the first official visit to Egypt by a sitting U.S. ambassador to Israel in decades, and it is anticipated that Ambassador Huckabee will meet with Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty.
The specific role of the current U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Herro Mustafa Garg, appointed during the Biden administration, in these talks remains unclear.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet responded to inquiries regarding the visit.
Ambassador Huckabee’s trip takes place against a backdrop of tense relations between Israel and Egypt, primarily due to the conflict in Gaza, a region bordering both nations.
Egypt has voiced strong criticism of Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City, where nearly one million Palestinians had sought refuge until recently. Cairo fears that the intense fighting could force hundreds of thousands of Gazans to cross the Egyptian border into the Sinai Peninsula.
Israeli media outlets have reported that Israeli officials expressed concerns to Washington about an Egyptian military buildup in the Sinai Peninsula, which shares borders with both Israel and Gaza. Last week, the Egyptian government publicly stated, in response to these reports, that its troops were in Sinai to secure Egypt’s borders against all threats. Egypt has also refuted Israel’s claim that these troop movements violate the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries.
During his visit to Cairo, Ambassador Huckabee is expected to address these tensions between the two nations, both of which receive significant U.S. military assistance, as stated by the three officials.
The discussions will also cover a new peace plan proposed by President Trump, which he shared with Arab and Muslim leaders during the United Nations General Assembly this week, according to two of the officials.
President Trump appointed Mr. Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel, as ambassador shortly after his re-election.
Egypt was the first Arab country to establish diplomatic ties with Israel following their 1979 peace treaty, which brought an end to decades of conflict. Since then, relations have gradually strengthened, involving shared intelligence, significant energy agreements, and direct communication between their leaders.
However, the ongoing Gaza war, sparked by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, has created a rift between the two countries. Egypt has played a mediating role, alongside Qatar and the United States, in cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier this month, Israel conducted a strike on a residential building in Doha, Qatar’s capital, where senior Hamas leaders were located. This attack resulted in the deaths of five individuals affiliated with Hamas and a member of the Qatari internal security forces. Following this incident, the resumption of cease-fire negotiations and Qatar’s continued involvement as a mediator remain uncertain.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi condemned the strike, cautioning that Israel was jeopardizing its diplomatic relationships with Arab states. He warned that the strike “places obstacles before any new peace agreements and even strains the existing peace accords with countries in the region.”