Israeli delegation arrives in Cairo

An Israeli delegation arrived today in Cairo in an “unannounced visit,” according to  Egyptian security sources.

According to the source, an Israeli delegation landed today in a private plane in Cairo’s international airport for a number of hours to meet with Egyptian officials.

The visit comes as the Palestinian reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah commences in Cairo today. The reconciliation talks between the Palestoinian factions are taking place under the auspices of Egyptian intelligence.

This dialogue aims at ending the geographical division between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank which began since late 2007, in addition to resolving the he political raw between Fatah and Hamas.

The Egyptian sources stressed that the Israeli delegation “has nothing to do with the Palestinian talks and is not planned to hold any political meetings in Cairo,” noting that the delegation is due to hold trade and security-focused meetings.

Read: Israel’s normalisation efforts soar against the public’s wishes

In 1979, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Israel considers Hamas, which currently controls Gaza since the summer of 2007, a terrorist organisation. Hamas officials say that the Islamic movement aims at resisting the Israeli occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Gaza has been enduring a strict Israeli siege, backed by Egypt and the international community for 11 years.