Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar traveled secretly to Cairo on Thursday to be joined by CIA chief William Burns, according to a report, for talks on a cease-fire for a hostage release deal.
The mini-summit is an effort to resolve disagreements between Egypt and Israel including Cairo refusing to present Hamas with a proposed reduction of Israeli troops along the Rafah border, despite its role as mediator.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Israel and Egypt are in dispute over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand to keep forces on the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza border with Egypt, to prevent weapons from being smuggled in for Hamas, after a deal is agreed. The dispute is preventing the U.S. efforts to secure a deal.
The IDF revealed video of a tunnel among dozens found along the route, that was tall and wide enough for trucks to drive through. Egypt had claimed it destroyed all tunnels connecting its side of the border with the Strip and that the tunnel uncovered by the troops was old and disabled.
According to the report, Cairo vehemently objects to any Israeli presence near the border. Egyptian sources told the paper that Egypt rejects an Israeli demand to build eight observation towers along the border and would not accept an Americ
an compromise offer of two towers because they would give Israel a military hold on the area.
Egypt claimed that any such presence would be a violation of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement and also did not want to be seen as collaborating with the "occupation" in Gaza.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
(Photo: AFP)
Cairo was also seeking an American guarantee that the IDF would not return to the Philadelphi corridor if the cease-fire deal collapsed and the fighting resumed.
The WSJ said White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk would meet Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi later on Thursday to try and reach an agreement.