The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, discussed with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, in the capital, Cairo, yesterday, Sunday, a deal to exchange prisoners and detainees in Gaza in light of the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip for the 374th day.
The newspaper explained that the two sides discussed developments in efforts to release the “abductees” and ways to get them out of the dead-end tunnel they had reached, in addition to discussing what they called differences in opinions between Israel and Egypt regarding the Philadelphia axis and the Rafah crossing.
This comes after Egypt rejected early last September accusations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it had turned a blind eye to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza via the Philadelphia route, and considered it an attempt to obstruct reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said – in a statement at the time – that it expressed its complete rejection of Netanyahu’s statements “in which he tried to use Egypt’s name to distract Israeli public opinion, obstruct reaching a ceasefire deal and exchange detainees, and obstruct the mediation efforts undertaken by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.” .
For months, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been leading indirect negotiations between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), but they did not result in an agreement due to Israel’s rejection of the movement’s demand to end the war, withdraw the occupation forces, and return the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip.
This is also accompanied by Netanyahu’s adherence to his refusal to withdraw his army from Philadelphia and the Rafah crossing, which he claims serve as oxygen pipelines for Hamas that will enable it to arm and regain its strength, while Israelis – especially the families of the prisoners – accuse him of obstructing reaching a deal that will return detainees from the Gaza Strip.