Report: Egypt pressuring PA to resume peace talks with Israel

Egyptian authorities are pressuring Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace talks with Israel, Israel Hayoum reported today.

A senior Egyptian official told the Hebrew newspaper that Egypt wants the PA to “fully renew security cooperation with Israel”.

A senior official in Abbas’ office in Ramallah told the newspaper that “the PA is under immense pressures from countries in the region to return to the negotiating table with Israel and renew, fully and comprehensively, security coordination with Israel,” explaining that the regional move was reported to have been made “in an attempt to build a regional front against Iran’s influence in the region and the fight terror”.

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The pressure exerted by the Egyptian authorities, the Palestinian official pointed out, has “significantly” increased since Friday’s terrorist attack on a mosque in Sinai which killed 309 people.

“The Egyptian security forces suspect that some of the terrorists who were involved in the attack, as well as other wanted individuals, fled Sinai and entered Gaza via Hamas’ underground smuggling tunnels,” the PA official noted.

On Friday, attackers bombed a mosque in the town of Bir Al-Abed in North Sinai before opening fire on fleeing worshippers. The 309 victims were reported to have included at least 27 children. Some 128 people were injured in the attack.