A summit involving the leaders of Egypt, Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump is being considered following this week’s major gas deal between Cairo and Tel Aviv, a source familiar with the plans said Thursday.
An Egyptian team is preparing a visit by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to the U.S., the source told dpa.
This could form the basis of a three-way summit with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they added. There has been no official confirmation.
A meeting between the two would be an unexpected development and previously unthinkable due to the war in the Gaza Strip, which borders both countries.
Egypt and Israel are deeply divided on a range of issues relating to Gaza, including the operation of the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah, the situation in the shared border area and the status of the Palestinians.
Accordingly, the relationship between the two leaders deteriorated significantly since the start of Israel's genocidal war more than two years ago.
An increasing number of experts, including those appointed by a U.N. body, say Israel's offensive in Gaza constitutes genocide. Israel's ensuing operation has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and led to famine in parts. Israeli leaders have also expressed support for the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, a move Palestinians and others say would amount to forcible expulsion.
They are said to have had no direct contact with each other, having last met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in 2018.
However, the U.S. and Israel may now be able to persuade el-Sissi to attend the meeting with the help of a huge gas deal worth around $35 billion.
Netanyahu announced the deal on Wednesday evening and promised "huge profits" for Israel, which wants to export gas from the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean to Egypt.
According to reports, the U.S. is said to have pushed for the deal to pave the way for a three-way meeting by the end of the year. Egypt is already heavily dependent on gas supplies from Israel to get its economy through a severe crisis.
Egypt and Israel fought several wars and conflicts over decades before formally making peace in 1979.
