Government officials in Washington and Tel Aviv have revealed that the US, Israel and the Palestinian Authority held a secret meeting last week to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza as part of an agreement on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange.
The meeting was apparently attended by the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, and US President Joe Biden’s senior advisor for Middle East affairs, Brett McGurk, as well as PLO Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein Al-Sheikh and Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj. It is believed to be the first meeting since the beginning of the war last October in which US, Israeli and Palestinian officials have discussed the Rafah crossing issue.
Senior US officials say that reopening the crossing could be the first step in a broader post-war strategy to stabilise and rebuild Gaza.
Informed sources said that the Israelis confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes any official PA involvement in the Rafah crossing. The sources said that the Shin Bet head tried to convince the PA president’s senior aides to agree to send their men to the crossing unofficially, but this was rejected.
Senior Israeli and American officials said that they understood why the PA opposed the proposal but stressed that it was in the PA’s interest “to enter the Gaza Strip, even if unofficially.” The White House, Shin Bet and Hussein Al-Sheikh all declined to comment.
The Biden administration also sees the reopening of the Rafah crossing as a way to begin restoring governance in the Gaza Strip that does not include Hamas, and instead allows for some participation by the Ramallah-based PA, the Israeli intelligence website has reported.
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