Sanchez and Al Sisi stage their rejection of Trump's plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza

MadridEgyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, who rules the country with an iron fist, visited the Moncloa palace on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Gaza with Pedro Sánchez. Both the Egyptian regime and the Spanish government have expressed their opposition in the ethnic cleansing plan that Donald Trump wants to apply to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "I want to reiterate the absolute rejection of the proposal to move the population of Gaza. Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and to the future Palestinian state. Its expulsion would not only be immoral and contrary to international law, but would destabilise the entire region," said the Spanish Prime Minister.

Al Sisi has insisted on moving forward with the ceasefire and praised the Spanish position in favour of a Palestinian state. "We must continue with the ceasefire without the forced displacement of the population of Gaza," he said. He also explained that Cairo and Madrid agree on requesting the withdrawal of Israeli troops deployed in Lebanon and Syria. Sánchez has also reaffirmed the importance of "Arab leadership" and supported the Arab League summit scheduled for 27 February to address an Arab plan in response to Trump's plan. He also recalled that Spain is one of the states that contributes the most troops to the Palestinian Authority mission at the Rafah crossing, currently under Israeli control.

"There is a great coincidence of interests in supporting a solution," explains José Vericat, an expert on North Africa from the Elcano Royal Institute, in conversation with ARA. To begin with, Egypt has a "priority national security interest" in preventing the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. "It is absolutely key in the conflict because it shares a border with Gaza and has played an important and positive role: it has prevented the mass exodus of Palestinians and plays a historic role in mediation between factions of Palestinians and between Israel and Gaza," he adds. Beyond security, there is a question of "principle, identity and history" that Egypt and Jordan "cannot facilitate the ethnic cleansing of Palestine; they cannot collaborate."

Al Sisi's frontal rejection, who a few days ago postponed a visit to Trump in Washington for his inauguration following this plan by the new president, is especially relevant considering Egypt's economic dependence on the United States, basically in military matters. However, Vericat believes that the Mediterranean country could do without this aid and believes that Trump is wrong to make Egypt and Jordan pay this "debt" with the ethnic cleansing he proposes in Gaza. "He does not realize the regional destabilizing factor that this would entail," he stresses. Along these lines, Egypt also shares a border with Libya and Sudan, two unstable countries that touch on the powder keg that is the Sahel, one of the main concerns of Spain as a host country for migrants fleeing this conflict zone.

In fact, the rais' visit has served to sign agreements on immigration, development cooperation and also in the economic and commercial sphere to raise the bilateral relationship between Egypt and Spain to the level of a strategic partnership. Another of the interests that Vericat points out that Egypt has in the resolution of the Gaza conflict is to launch a reconstruction plan that not only stops Trump's plan, but can also benefit construction companies.

Sánchez's leadership

Before receiving Al Sisi, who has also visited Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace, Sánchez has visited Egypt on four occasions. In November 2023, he went to the Rafah crossing, on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, to say that Spain would recognise the Palestinian state if the EU did so, and the Spanish government took the step last spring, with Ireland and Norway, a gesture that was applauded by Egypt and the rest of the Arab countries. Sánchez led this initiative and highlighted a "double standard", says Vericat, of the rest of the European partners, who, however, have been involved with Ukraine. "Europe cannot impose a solution to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia due to a lack of military muscle, but it is also losing the card of the Europe of values, principles and human rights [with the Gaza conflict]", he points out.