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Egypt weighed recalling envoy after Israel blamed Cairo for holding up Gaza aid

Comments from Israel’s legal team at the genocide hearing at The Hague that Egypt was to blame for failures to deliver Gaza aid through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing so angered officials that Cairo debated withdrawing its ambassador from Israel, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“Top Egyptian intelligence and security officials called a meeting the same day to discuss pulling the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv in response to the comments,” the journal says.

However, after a five-hour discussion, it was decided to only issue a statement denying the claims.

Ties between Israel and Egypt, the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, have become tense over the ongoing Gaza war amid Egyptian fears Israel plans to push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the Sinai.

Israeli plans to retake control of a key buffer zone along the Egypt-Gaza border has also sparked anger in Cairo.

Nevertheless, Egypt has played a key role in mediating a hostage release deal with Hamas and is involved in talks for a new agreement.