Turkish, Egyptian foreign ministers to discuss Gaza ceasefire, post-war efforts

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Egypt will discuss the Gaza ceasefire and international efforts to rebuild the enclave once the war is over during talks in Ankara on Wednesday, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Tuesday.

Turkey’s relations with Israel collapsed during the Gaza war, and it has been a harsh critic of Jerusalem, but it also served as a key mediator of the tenuous three-week-old ceasefire. Now, it is pushing to play a key role in post-war Gaza, despite staunch Israeli opposition.

The source said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would host Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty for Wednesday’s talks on the possible next phases of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement, which envisions the rehabilitation of Gaza, replacement of Hamas as the governing authority and disarmament of the terror group, and the establishment of an international force to maintain stability in the enclave, as part of a move toward broader regional peace.

Fidan would “state that, despite Israel’s violations, the Palestinian side is adhering to the conditions of the ceasefire and managing the process in a positive way,” the source said, adding Fidan would also note the need for world powers to help rebuild the enclave and repeat Turkey’s offer to play a role in such efforts.

A fragile ceasefire has been in force in the devastated territory since October 10 as part of US President Donald Trump’s regional peace plan, after two years of war sparked by the Hamas-led atrocities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel and the terror group have repeatedly accused each other of breaching the truce deal, with Israel saying Hamas was stalling over returning hostage remains and Hamas saying Israel continued to obstruct aid deliveries.

With US urging, Turkey has repeatedly voiced its desire to join task forces to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire, including an international stabilization force for which a UN Security Council resolution is being sought.

However, Israel has voiced its opposition to such Turkish involvement, saying there would be no forces from Turkey present in Gaza.

The ministers would also hold the inaugural meeting of the Turkey-Egypt Joint Planning Group, the source said. The meeting will convene officials to work on preparations for high-level talks to be held in Cairo next year, in line with an agreement signed last year.

Ankara has repeatedly praised Egypt for its role in taking in and facilitating humanitarian aid shipments for Gaza. It has sent thousands of tons of aid and offered to help Hamas find the bodies of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, which the terror group is supposed to return, as per the truce deal. The remains of four hostages are still held in Gaza, three Israelis and one Thai national. They were among 251 abducted as hostages during the Hamas-led October 7 attack. The rest have all been returned as part of the current and previous truce deals.

Earlier this month, ministers from seven Muslim countries met in Istanbul to discuss Gaza, but Egypt did not attend the meeting.

Fidan also held talks with US officials on Syria and Gaza while on a visit to Washington on Monday, after which he said they had discussed possible next steps in the ceasefire deal.