US President-elect Donald Trump's recent warning to the region about giving the Palestinian Hamas faction a deadline to release Israeli captives in Gaza by the time he takes office next month has been met by uproar in Egypt amid official silence.
Over the past 48 hours, Egyptian analysts and talk show hosts, known for their loyalty to the government of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, denounced Trump's threats.
For his part, former senior diplomat and political analyst Dr Mostafa ElFeki described Trump as "going out of line".
"I assume as the man approaches the doors of the White House, he will tend to be more reasonable and stop saying outrageous remarks and voicing claims and lies," ElFeki said during a live interview with talk show host Sheri Amer broadcast on MBC Misr late on Tuesday.
"By such statements, he totally went out of line… He intended to message the region that [a US] ruler…is likely to take measures harsher than before…but I can't think of anything worse than what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has already done," Elfeki said, adding that both men are "two sides of the same coin."
"What would the Palestinian people face worse than what they have already been undergoing?" the high-profile politician rhetorically asked.
Controversial journalist and talk show host Ahmed Mousa, known for his loyalty to Sisi's regime, considered Trump's statements "quite serious" and called on the Arab World to unite.
He also urged on the Hamas leaders to respond to the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, and the US for an eventual ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages.
"The peoples of the region should not pay for the deeds of Hamas," Moussa argued.
"It is a disaster facing the Middle East if hostages are not freed before 20 January… Trump came this time with a different agenda… He is threatening the whole Middle East…we are talking here about the biggest power in the world, not just Israel," he added.
Activists and public figures also slammed Trump on social media, including self-exiled Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef.
About 250 Israelis are held by Hamas in Gaza, some of whom hold US citizenship.
"Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released before January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.
"Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!" he continued, without elaborating further on what exactly would happen if the captives were not released by the deadline.
On the same day of the post in question, the Israeli army said that , an American-Israeli citizen, was killed by Hamas in October last year. Neutra had previously been believed to have been kept alive in captivity.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden was among those who paid tribute to Neutra in the US earlier this week, saying he was "devastated and outraged" at his death.
A recent video released by Hamas purportedly shows another Israeli-American man caught up in the attacks. In the clip, the captive, named Edan Alexander, appears in a state of distress, urging Trump and Netanyahu to negotiate for his liberation and safety.
Neither Egypt nor any country in the region has officially responded to Trump's warning at the time of publication.
Sisi-Trump rapprochement
Sisi is known for having friendly ties with Trump. However, their rapprochement has often been subject to debate and has commonly made news headlines.
In 2019, Trump sparked controversy by yelling out, "Where's my favourite dictator?" in reference to Sisi during the G7 summit held in France, where he waited for him to arrive at a meeting. At that time, Trump applauded Sisi and his leadership for being "a very tough man."
"But he's also a good man and done a fantastic job in Egypt. Not easy," Trump said on the sidelines of the event.
The US president-elect had, nonetheless, his Egyptian counterpart a year later, allegedly referring to him as "a f* killer," as claimed by Bob Woodward in his tell-all biography on the US president, .
Most recently, in August, a report by The Washington Post revealed that the Egyptian government may have allegedly offered Trump $10 million in cash in 2017 to boost his election campaign. The report further suggested that Trump's attorney general at the time, William Bar, allegedly quashed the investigation into the allegations.
Trump frequently voiced support for Sisi throughout his time in power against all the odds as his administration had turned a blind eye to hundreds of documented violations reportedly committed against the opposition and activists in Egypt, ignoring reports released by the , other groups.
Trump's threats came on the backdrop of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip caused by Israel's genocidal war.
The US had not been present in a high-level ministerial conference held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, also on Monday, to garner aid for Gaza, attended by over 100 delegations worldwide and representatives from civil groups and UN agencies.
The US absence has triggered questions about its stance amid mounting calls for Israel's accountability towards its genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza, which killed at least 44,500 Palestinian lives, about 70 per cent of them women and children and thousands others injured.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty condemned the Israeli occupation forces and their violation of international and humanitarian laws using famine, mass displacements, and blockade as collective punishment against civilians in Gaza.
Egypt and Israel have technically been at peace since the late 1970s, sharing solid diplomatic, economic, and security ties—despite widespread opposition from the Egyptian public.