US ally Egypt is seeking guarantees from Washington that Israel will not attack exiled Hamas leaders again, sources told The National on Wednesday.
Egypt's request comes after Israel's strike on Tuesday aimed at top Hamas leaders in Qatar, which is another close Washington ally and home to the largest US military base in the Middle East.
There has been no response yet from Washington on the Egyptian request but, according to the sources, Egypt's plea stands a good chance of receiving a positive response from President Donald Trump's administration.
The White House said on Tuesday night that Mr Trump did not agree with Israel's decision to strike Hamas's exiled leaders in Qatar.
“I'm not thrilled about the whole situation,” Mr Trump told reporters separately.
“We want the [Israeli] hostages back, but we are not thrilled about the way that went down today.”
Hamas said six people were killed in the strikes, including the group's chief negotiator Khalil Al Hayah's son and aide. However, its senior leaders have survived. The sources said several Hamas leaders may have been wounded in the attack, but none seriously.
Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, a Nato member and close US ally, have in recent days discussed ways to best provide protection for Hamas's exiled leaders against possible attacks by Israel, the sources said. These discussions were prompted by intelligence reaching the three nations that Israel planned to attack senior Hamas figures in and outside Gaza as part of its war goal to wipe out the group.
As part of the talks, Egypt was considering providing a home for three or four of the group's top leaders who are involved in indirect negotiations with Israel to end the Gaza war, sources told The National.
Among the names floated for possible relocation to Cairo are senior officials Zaher Jabareen, Nazar Awadallah and Hossam Badran.
“The intention is to safeguard the negotiations at a time when Israel is sending a clear message to everyone that no one in the Arab world can stop it from doing what it pleases,” said one of the sources.
“Israel is telling everyone that there's no ceiling to what it could do.”
Egypt, Qatar and the US, have been trying without success to broker a ceasefire in Gaza since the last one collapsed in March. It was the second pause in the war that began in October 2023.
“The Gaza negotiations have been frozen,” an official who has been directly involved in the negotiations said on Wednesday. “There is no prospect at present for their resumption.”
The latest proposal for ending the war came from Mr Trump. His plan calls for Hamas to release all hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be alive and about 28 are bodies being held in Gaza – on the first day of a truce.
He also wants Hamas to surrender its arms and network of underground tunnels as well as halt the recruitment of new fighters, according to the sources.
Hamas says it will not give up its arms before Israel withdraws from Gaza, where more than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Moreover, Israel's strike in Qatar on Tuesday has taken place amid growing tension between Egypt and Israel, Middle East neighbours bound by a US-sponsored peace treaty signed in 1979.
Egypt's condemnation of the attack showed a marked toughening of the anti-Israel rhetoric that has intensified in recent months.
This is mostly due to Cairo's belief that Israeli policies in Gaza are designed in large part to force the enclave's estimated two million residents to seek refuge in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, his ministers and pro-government media have recently taken to using the term “genocide” to describe Israel's war on Gaza. They have also accused Israel of deliberately starving Palestinians in the enclave.
“The perpetrators of this criminal act must be held accountable,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters on Tuesday night after the Qatar attack. “The arrogance of power will not bring about security to the region or to Israel itself.”
Several pro-government talk show hosts have in recent weeks been warning Israel against going to war with Egypt.
“Egypt does not favour war, but it's ready for it,” Diaa Rashwan, chairman of the State Information Service, said in a television interview last week.
“Such a war can be summed up in one phrase: Only a 100 kilometres separate Tel Aviv from Al Arish [an Egyptian city close to the Gaza border],” he said.
“By comparison, it will make the 1973 war looks like a picnic,” he added, alluding to the last of four, full-fledged wars between Egypt and Israel in which Egypt and Syria took Israel by surprise with a simultaneous attack.
