Diplomatic sources say Egypt did not respond to the Algerian offer to provide free fuel to Gaza Strip
Could tensions erupt between Algiers and Cairo? This is suggested by several sources who have expressed themselves in the media in recent days.
According to these sources, it all started a few weeks ago, when Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune proposed to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to allow Algeria to supply fuel for the Gaza Strip through installations within Egyptian borders. Algiers will take care of all expenses in this operation.
But an Arab League diplomat told the daily Al-Araby that “President al-Sisi did not give a clear answer to the Algerian side, reserving his answer after discussions with the Egyptian authorities in charge of this case”.
Diplomatic sources even go so far as to speak of “Algiers’ annoyance” in the face of Egyptian procrastination.
Al-Araby quotes the Egyptian expert Chadi Ibrahim, who explains that “it is not only the intervention of Algiers in the Palestinian file which annoys Cairo but rather any intervention of a country other than Egypt in this file, because it is a vital issue for Egyptian diplomacy”.
Cairo has already refused the intervention of the Saudis on the Palestinian file”, recalls the expert, while specifying that the role that Cairo wants to play alone in this question allows it to receive dividends from the United States. United or European Union. “To act on the Palestinian file, Cairo only allows you to go through its only channel,” says the expert.
The same researcher, however, qualifies his remarks by considering that “Egypt could accept the Algerian project [of fuel aid for Gaza] if there are material or political gains for Cairo”.
Chadi Ibrahim specifies that Algiers “will soon welcome Ismaël Haniyeh, president of the political office of Hamas, and a delegation of Fatah” for the continuation of the process of reconciliation between the two movements. There too, this is a file of which Cairo wishes to keep the exclusivity, according to the expert.
Phone call Tebboune-Sissi
“Cairo is not reassured by the Algerian approach to this dossier, which goes beyond historically stabilized stages and which remains closely linked to the role of Egypt”, explains to Al-Araby an Egyptian diplomat in charge of Arab dossiers.
Another official Egyptian source assures the same media that “Egyptian secret service officials have begun to develop an inclusive vision applicable on the ground to unite the Palestinian interior [Hamas and Fatah]”, with the support of the Egyptian presidency. A meeting, in which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would participate, is also planned in Cairo in this regard.
Regarding Algeria’s request for fuel for Gaza, former Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Abdalah al-Achaal told Al- Araby that “Egypt will never accept Algeria to smuggle fuel into Palestine because Cairo will never sacrifice Israel neither for Gaza nor for Algeria”.
“The Egyptian role is to try to find mediation between Palestinians and Israelis, while the Algerian position is strictly support for the Palestinians against Israel,” he said.
It is probably to ease tensions that the two presidents, Algerian and Egyptian, spoke on the phone on Monday to set the date for the next meeting.
On July 6, Algiers announced $30 million in aid for the reconstruction of Jenin following recent attacks by the Israeli army. A decision hailed by the Palestinian Authority.
