Egypt steps up Gaza role after brokering last year’s truce

By FARES AKRAM
Associated Press

In the months since it mediated a cease-fire in Gaza last May, Egypt has sent crews to clear rubble and promised to build vast new apartment complexes. Egyptian flags and billboards praising President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi have sprung up across the Palestinian territory. After years of working mostly behind the scenes to encourage Mideast peace talks and Palestinian reconciliation, Egypt is taking on a much larger and more public role in Gaza. Presenting itself as a key Mideast mediator could further blunt U.S. efforts to hold Egypt accountable for human rights abuses. Egypt’s leverage over Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers could help prevent another war in the near term, even as the underlying conflict continues to fester.