CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday reiterated Cairo’s rejection of the displacement of Palestinians and pledged to continue working with mediators to implement the agreement to end the war in Gaza.

During talks with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, in Cairo, El-Sisi stressed that all parties must abide by the Oct. 10 ceasefire agreement, including by halting escalation, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid and creating conditions for Gaza’s early recovery and reconstruction, according to the Egyptian presidency.

His comments came amid renewed calls by senior Israeli ministers for Palestinians to leave Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier on Wednesday that it was “only a matter of time” before Israel resumed full-scale war in the enclave to “finish the job” and moved ahead with plans to push for the emigration of its two million Palestinians.

Earlier this month, Katz said Israel was prepared to facilitate the departure of Palestinians from Gaza by sea, air and other means, but was waiting for US backing. He described the proposed migration as voluntary and claimed that 80 percent of Palestinians in Gaza wanted to leave.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has since said the government has no plans to deport Palestinians from Gaza.

Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, has repeatedly rejected proposals to displace Palestinians from either the enclave or the occupied West Bank and, warning that such moves would risk “liquidating” the Palestinian cause and undermining the prospects for an independent state.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Abbas praised Egypt’s “steadfast role” in supporting the Palestinian cause.

Cairo, alongside Qatar, Turkiye and the US, helped broker the October 2025 agreement that ended two years of war in Gaza. Implementation has since faced repeated setbacks amid disagreements over Hamas’ disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have continued despite the ceasefire agreement, killing 1,375 Palestinians and injuring 4,686 others, according to Palestinian authorities.

El-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s support for the Palestinian Authority and efforts to achieve consensus among Palestinian factions.

Abbas briefed his Egyptian counterpart on the Israeli escalations in the occupied West Bank including the rapid settlement construction and expansion alongside surging settler violence, house demolitions and land seizures.

He warned that the implementation of the E1 settlement project, which would separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, would “undermine the remaining prospects for achieving the two-state solution and establishing the State of Palestine on the ground,” the Palestinian News Agency reported.

El-Sisi condemned what he described as Israeli violations against Palestinians and reiterated Cairo’s support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Egyptian president said the Palestinian issue would remain central to the region until a “just and comprehensive settlement” was reached, describing the establishment of a Palestinian state as the only path to lasting peace and stability in the Middle East.

The two leaders agreed to intensify political coordination and consultations on developments in the Palestinian territories and the wider region.

In a separate meeting in Cairo with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy, Abbas called for greater Arab and international support to counter the displacement of Palestinians and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

He also urged support for Gaza’s postwar reconstruction and renewed calls for an end to the Israeli occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.