Lead:

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi participated Tuesday in a high-level session at the G7 Summit in Évian, France, titled "Exiting Crises and Ensuring Stability in the Middle East." His attendance — alongside bilateral talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — placed Egypt at the core of international deliberations over Gaza, Lebanon, and maritime security, signalling Cairo's growing diplomatic weight in a period of acute regional volatility.

Details:

According to El-Balad and El-Fagr, President Sisi used the G7 session to press world leaders on the necessity of implementing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, warning against what he described as the expansion of the "yellow line" in Gaza and cautioning that international preoccupation with the Iran crisis risks deflecting attention from the Palestinian file. He also stressed the imperative of ensuring freedom of navigation through international maritime corridors — a position of direct relevance to Egypt given its stake in Red Sea and Suez Canal traffic.

On Lebanon, El-Fagr reports that Sisi directly attributed the deterioration of conditions in southern Lebanon to Israel's failure to withdraw from occupied positions, a statement that aligns with Cairo's consistent diplomatic posture on the Israeli-Lebanese front. Separately, Sada El-Balad reported ongoing Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling, and intensive drone activity across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, with no reported casualties at time of publication.

El-Balad further reports that Sisi held a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Merz on the sidelines of the summit, with the German side acknowledging what it described as notable momentum in bilateral relations in recent years. Egyptian parliamentarians and officials were swift to frame Sisi's G7 participation as affirmation of Egypt's elevated international standing, with members of both the Senate and House of Representatives cited by El-Balad and NewSD describing the invitation as recognition of Egypt's role as an indispensable regional partner rather than a peripheral guest.

On the diplomatic front, Egypt's Foreign Ministry issued a strong condemnation of what it termed the illegal opening of a so-called "Somaliland" embassy in occupied Jerusalem, reiterating Cairo's firm rejection of any measures that prejudge the status of the holy city.

Watch For:

Whether the G7 session produces any concrete multilateral commitment to advancing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and how Egypt positions itself as a guarantor in the coming days.

The trajectory of Israeli military activity in southern Lebanon, given Sisi's public remarks at the summit, and whether Cairo pursues further diplomatic coordination with Berlin or other G7 members on this front.

The outcome of Egypt's parallel diplomatic engagements — including health and trade discussions with Denmark and Serbia — which suggest Cairo is simultaneously leveraging its G7 visibility to advance bilateral economic partnerships.