CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call April 12 from Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The call, at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, was the first contact between the two leaders since a reconciliation agreement was signed between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors as well as Egypt in the Saudi city of al-Ula in January, ending the diplomatic rift that emerged in 2017. 

Spokesperson for the Egyptian presidency Bassam Radi said in a statement, “The president thanked Qatar’s emir for his wishes on this blessed occasion, calling on God Almighty to bless the peoples of the two brotherly countries as well as all Arab and Islamic peoples.”

Mohammed Soliman is a senior associate at McLarty Associates, an advisory firm based in Washington. He told Al-Monitor, “In previous times, the call would have been considered common protocol or courtesy. But now, it is a sign of better relations between Cairo and Doha, especially after the al-Ula declaration.”

Soliman added, “There is an understanding in Cairo and Doha that there is a need to tackle longstanding issues to restore trust, repair ties and ease the years-long inter-Arab feud.”