Egypt is playing a dangerous double game. While publicly aligned with American efforts to stabilize the region, the Cairo regime undermines President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. Ziyad al-Nakhalah, secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, fired the first rhetorical shot against the U.S.-Israeli proposal from the heart of Cairo, where he resides under the security and control of the Egyptian state. Reports confirm that Cairo has not only provided him a safe haven but also granted formal residency permits to him and other militant leaders, effectively institutionalizing their presence.
Al-Nakhalah’s statement, dismissing the plan as a “recipe for the continuation of aggression,” was not an independent act of defiance; it is inconceivable that a designated terrorist leader could operate brazenly from any capital, let alone that of a U.S. ally, without the tacit approval of the host country’s security apparatus.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declined an invitation to the White House and sent a subordinate to a critical summit on the Gaza war.
Nor was this episode an isolated incident, but rather, part of a pattern of calculated Egyptian obstruction. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declined an invitation to the White House and sent a subordinate to a critical summit on the Gaza war, demonstrating a lack of commitment to the U.S.-led diplomatic process. To date, Sisi remains the only leader of a major Arab nation who has not met with Trump since his November 2024 election for direct talks on Gaza; Sisi instead opted for a military build-up in Sinai. Moreover, reports indicate that Egypt has delayed a visit by Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, “until further notice,” effectively declaring him persona non grata due to his support for Israel, despite Huckabee’s close ties to Trump and the need to discuss the proposed peace plan for Gaza.
Al-Nakhalah designed his rhetoric to make it impossible for Hamas to accept Trump’s proposal. By effectively declaring the plan a surrender and an “American-Israeli agreement,” he frames acceptance as an act of treason against the Palestinian cause. This creates a dilemma for Hamas, which is under international and regional pressure to agree to the deal. The group must now weigh this pressure against the need to maintain its patriotic credentials in a rivalry with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. If Hamas appears compliant, it risks Palestinian Islamic Jihad outflanking it to become the vanguard of “resistance.”
The primary driver of Egypt’s unspoken opposition is the plan’s failure to guarantee an Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow but strategic strip of land on Gaza’s border with Egypt. For Cairo, an ongoing Israeli military presence there is a red line, a violation of its sovereignty and a threat to its security. An Israeli official stated that Israel “will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor,” because of the corridor’s importance in preventing weapons smuggling.
The ongoing conflict justifies the regime’s authoritarian grip and secures billions of dollars in international aid.
This dispute over the corridor threatens to shatter the fragile ceasefire and risks destabilizing one of the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy in the region: the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Egypt’s desire to control the Gaza card guides its actions. The ongoing conflict justifies the regime’s authoritarian grip and secures billions of dollars in international aid, providing a lifeline for its struggling economy. A resolution brokered by others—or one that diminishes Egypt’s role as the indispensable mediator—threatens Cairo’s geopolitical influence. By providing a stage for al-Nakhalah’s rejectionism, Egypt ensures it remains a player in the formulation and execution of any deal, regardless of the cost to U.S. diplomatic efforts.
Policy only succeeds when calibrated to reality. U.S. policy must recognize that Egypt’s interests are not aligned with its own. The Trump administration must insist that Cairo choose sides: It can no longer posture as a partner for peace while undermining U.S. interests and plans for the region. Continued tolerance of this behavior only deepens the conflict and betrays the forces of moderation.
The time for diplomatic politeness is over. At a time when Qatar engages in trilateral conversations with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the Israeli strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, Egypt downgrades its diplomatic relations with the United States and Israel, and grants Palestinian Islamic Jihad approval to sabotage regional and international efforts to release Israeli hostages and end the war. The United States must demand that Egypt cease its double-dealing and align with American efforts or be exposed as an obstacle to the peace and stability it claims to champion.
