Israel requests Egypt's assistance over Gaza ceasefire

Israeli (L) and Egyptian flags fly next to each other on the international border between the two countries in the Red Sea beach resort of Taba. [Photo by MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP via Getty Images]

Israeli officials have requested discussions between the Shin Bet security service and its Egyptian counterparts concerning a ceasefire in Gaza, Sama has reported, citing Israel Hayom. The newspaper reported that Egypt has yet to schedule an official date for Shin Bet officials to visit and discuss the ceasefire.

Furthermore, the Israeli newspaper stated that the Egyptians have asked, in a separate discussion with American officials, to reconsider the possibility of establishing a temporary ceasefire lasting two to three days for humanitarian purposes.

Israeli media revealed on Monday that the head of Israel’s Shin Bet has made a secret visit to Turkiye to discuss a potential prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. According to the Hebrew website Walla, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar visited Turkiye last Saturday and met with Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin to discuss a hostage exchange deal with Hamas.

“Despite the tensions between the Turkish leadership and the Israeli government, the head of Shin Bet has been working in recent days to incite the Turks against Hamas, as Turkiye hosts many senior Hamas leaders and wields significant influence over the organisation,” added Maariv.

Israeli officials have claimed in recent days that several senior Hamas officials have left Qatar and travelled to Turkiye, including the movement’s chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya.

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