Egyptian security delegation in Israel to discuss Gaza truce

CAIRO - 16 August 2018: An Egyptian security delegation headed to Israel in a short visit on Wednesday, to discuss the cease-fire deal between Palestinian factions and Israel.

The visit that lasted for few hours is a resumption of Egypt’s efforts to deescalate the tension in Gaza Strip and accomplish the reconciliation between the Palestinian factions.

A state of calmness prevailed in the Gaza Strip, after the Egypt-brokered truce was reached between Palestinians and Israelis to put an end to the military escalation in the strip. However, two Palestinians including a medic were killed by Israeli fire on the Gaza border on August 11.

It was the third major escalation since July and came despite attempts by UN officials and Egypt to secure a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all the regional powers to support the Egyptian efforts in coordination with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, to curb any military escalation between the Israeli army and the Palestinian factions in Gaza. He welcomed on Wednesday the Israeli decision to reopen Kerem Shalom commercial crossing and the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza,

Guterrs said that the Israeli authorities agreed to the calls of the International arena to avoid the harms of closing a civil crossing, adding that citizens in Gaza are set to face huge living difficulties in case of the crossing closure.

Egyptian diplomacy along with the UN managed to realize a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza, following an Israeli military aggression against Gaza last week.

As for the inter-Palestine reconciliation, a source told Egypt Today on the condition of anonymity, that Fatah's Executive Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad is currently in Cairo, in order to conduct a number of positive talks with Egyptian officials regarding the mechanisms of the reconciliation process.

In October 2017, the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a preliminary reconciliation deal in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian intelligence officials, in the latest in a series of attempts to end a decade-long Palestinian territorial.