Bilateral relations, the war in Gaza, and the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh topped Egyptian-Qatari talks in Doha, during a visit by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati to Doha on Wednesday.

The Egyptian minister's visit was considered by experts, including a former ambassador of Cairo to Qatar, to be "of great importance" in light of regional unrest and tensions in the area, "which require coordination of positions", especially on the truce file, which is still in place, in addition to strengthening political and economic relations between the two countries.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States are leading a mediation to end the war in Gaza. Last November, they succeeded in concluding the first truce, while the second faltered amidst multiple rounds of negotiations, the last of which was last Sunday in Rome, and did not result in “any progress,” according to what the Israeli Broadcasting Authority recently reported.

With the return of relations to normal between Cairo and Doha in 2021, the partnership between the two parties grew, and was strengthened by mutual visits at the level of leaders. This was reflected on the economic level, as the Egyptian Prime Minister, Mustafa Madbouly, praised, in an interview with the Qatar News Agency last year, Qatar’s announcement in March 2022 to pump investments into Egypt worth $5 billion (the US dollar is equal to 48.65 in Egyptian banks).

According to a statement by the Emiri Diwan, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, received the Egyptian Foreign Minister in Doha yesterday, and they discussed “bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries and ways to enhance them.”

During the meeting, the Egyptian minister praised “the qualitative leap witnessed by Egyptian-Qatari relations during the past two years, as the exchange of visits at the summit level provided a strong boost in all fields,” stressing “the importance of continuing to strengthen bilateral relations, especially economic and investment relations,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister welcomed Qatar's efforts to explore new investment opportunities in Egypt, in addition to enhancing cooperation between the Egyptian Sovereign Fund and the Qatari Sovereign Fund.

The meeting touched on the "continuing efforts of the two countries and their joint coordination to end the war in Gaza, in light of the two countries' visions agreeing on the need to reach an immediate ceasefire, and the efforts of Cairo and Doha to prevent the expansion of the conflict in the region, and joint work to ensure the security and stability of the region."

During the visit, Abdel Aati also met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, and reviewed cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to support and develop them. The meeting witnessed discussions on "the repercussions of the assassination of Haniyeh", the latest "developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories", and ways to remove obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, according to a statement by the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

In addition to these issues, the two sides discussed a number of regional files and issues of common interest, including the situations in Yemen, Syria, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa region, in addition to tensions in the Red Sea region.

The visit comes "at a very important time," according to former Egyptian Ambassador to Qatar, Mohamed Morsi, who pointed out that "the region is witnessing major challenges, and relations between Cairo and Doha are moving in the right direction and in a good way."

These challenges, the most important of which is in Gaza, require, according to Morsi, “more coordination and cooperation, and the files of enhancing bilateral cooperation impose themselves in light of the development of relations.”

Former Egyptian Foreign Minister's Assistant, Hajar Al-Islambouli, considered that the escalation witnessed in the region "shows the importance of the visit, especially since Egypt and Qatar play an important role in mediating the Gaza war file, and therefore these meetings are necessary within the efforts to reduce tension, and also to support bilateral relations that are witnessing positive development."

About "Middle East"