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Sisi, US Secretary of Defense Discuss Strengthening Security, Military Ties

Egyptian President during his meeting with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and the accompanying delegation in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President during his meeting with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and the accompanying delegation in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)
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Sisi, US Secretary of Defense Discuss Strengthening Security, Military Ties

Egyptian President during his meeting with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and the accompanying delegation in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President during his meeting with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and the accompanying delegation in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)

Cairo and Washington agreed on Wednesday to strengthen their military and security ties, given their importance in reinforcing efforts to restore security and stability in the Middle East region.

During a meeting with visiting US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed his country’s keenness on strengthening the strategic partnership with Washington.

The President also emphasized Egypt’s commitment to further intensifying cooperation and coordination between the two countries in an array of areas, particularly in the military and security fields, which plays an important role in restoring security and stability and consolidating peace in the Middle East region, according to presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy.

For his part, the US Secretary of Defense highly appreciated Egypt’s key role in the Middle East as a rational and responsible stabilizing force.

He stressed Washington’s commitment to further advancing and strengthening cooperation and the strategic partnership with Egypt, particularly their defense cooperation, which constitutes a fundamental cornerstone in the two countries’ relations.

In a Twitter post ahead of his meeting with Sisi, Austin said Wednesday that America’s defense partnership with Egypt is an “essential pillar” of Washington’s commitment to the Middle East.

“I’m here to strengthen our coordination on key issues and to pursue opportunities to deepen our long-standing bilateral partnership with Egypt,” he wrote.

Fahmy said the meeting between Sisi and Austin on Wednesday focused on a number of regional and international issues.

“Sisi reiterated the need to exert intensive international efforts so as to achieve calm in the Palestinian territories and halt unilateral measures and escalation,” the spokesman said.

The President also confirmed that the two-state solution, according to the relevant references of international legitimacy, is considered the pathway toward achieving just and comprehensive peace for the benefit of the peoples of the region.

Sisi and Austin then touched on efforts to reinforce peace and stability at the international level, in light of the successive global crises, which cast shadow on the various countries around the world.

The meeting was attended by Egypt’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Minister of Defense and Military Production, General Mohamed Zaki, and US Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Ambassador Daniel Rubinstein.

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Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
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Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 

The brief detention of Talal Naji, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), by Syrian authorities has renewed scrutiny over the status of Palestinian factions still operating in Syria, particularly those that aligned with the former Assad regime.

Naji’s arrest and swift release come amid a major political realignment following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. Once one of the most active and heavily armed Palestinian groups in Syria, the PFLP-GC now faces an uncertain future, along with other factions that were long tolerated—or even supported—under Assad’s rule.

A well-informed Palestinian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new Syrian administration has appointed a figure known as Abu Abdul Rahman al-Shami to oversee the file of Palestinian factions. Since assuming the role, al-Shami has convened multiple meetings with faction representatives, including regular attendees from the PFLP-GC, to discuss the fate of their fighters, weapons, property, and military infrastructure.

According to the source, al-Shami has made it clear that the new government intends to hold accountable any individuals or groups implicated in crimes against Syrian civilians during the civil war. Palestinian factions have been instructed to surrender all weapons and military equipment, and to limit their activities to humanitarian and relief work. The PFLP-GC, the source said, has largely complied.

Despite the fall of the Assad regime, Naji and much of the PFLP-GC’s second- and third-tier leadership have remained in Syria. Its offices in Damascus reportedly continue to operate, though under heightened scrutiny. Other faction leaders, however, have fled. Among them are Khaled Abdul Majid (Popular Struggle Front), Ziyad al-Saghir (Fatah–Intifada), Mohammad al-Saeed (Liwa al-Quds), and Saed Abdel Al (Free Palestine Movement). Most are believed to have sought refuge in Lebanon.

Sources confirmed that several PFLP-GC fighters have been detained in recent weeks in connection with alleged war crimes committed during their cooperation with Assad’s forces. The Syrian government has also moved to seize faction offices and military installations across the country, including properties belonging to Fatah–Intifada, the Free Palestine Movement, and the Sa’iqa Forces. Sa’iqa’s leader, Mohammad Qais, remains in Syria.

In a further blow, authorities have reportedly frozen bank accounts belonging to some Palestinian factions, both in state and private banks, although it remains unclear whether the PFLP-GC is among them.

Additionally, it is widely believed that the PFLP-GC has handed over its military training camps, which were previously spread across Damascus countryside, Daraa, Aleppo, and Suwayda. “The situation is extremely sensitive, and everyone is anxious,” one Palestinian source told Asharq Al-Awsat. “It’s likely they’ve surrendered those sites.”

The sense of unease deepened last month when Syrian authorities detained two senior Islamic Jihad officials in Damascus: Khaled Khaled, head of the group’s Syria bureau, and Abu Ali Yasser, its chief organizational officer. Both remain in custody, and no official charges have been announced.

The current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty has driven faction leaders to avoid public comment. Most now insist on anonymity when speaking to local or international media.

Before the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, Syria hosted more than a dozen Palestinian factions. As the conflict escalated, the Assad regime encouraged the formation of new pro-regime groups, composed largely of Palestinian refugees, to fight alongside its forces.