A high-ranking Egyptian source said on Friday that there is no truth to what is being circulated about the existence of Egyptian-Israeli security arrangements regarding the border with the Gaza Strip.

Israeli media had previously said that Tel Aviv was holding discussions about withdrawing from the Philadelphia axis, located on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Yesterday, Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would only agree to an agreement that guarantees continued Israeli control over the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, but he did not clarify whether that meant the presence of forces there, according to Reuters.

The Egyptian source confirmed to Al-Ghad that there are Israeli parties working by spreading rumors about new security arrangements with Egypt to try to hide its failures in Gaza.

He continued, saying: “Egypt has made great efforts during the recent period to achieve progress in the truce negotiations in the Gaza Strip.”

The Egyptian source added to Al-Ghad: “There are still outstanding points that go beyond what was previously agreed upon with the mediators and hinder progress in the truce negotiations in the Gaza Strip.”

The issue of the Israeli forces remaining on the border is one of the issues that hinders reaching a ceasefire agreement because Hamas and Egypt, which is mediating in the talks, reject the continued presence of the occupation forces there.

Egypt says that it wants to resume the delivery of aid to Gaza, but the Palestinian presence must return at the crossing in order for it to be operational again.

The Israeli invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in early May led to the closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza and a sharp decline in the amount of international aid entering the Gaza Strip.

Egypt always stresses that the Gaza Strip crossings should be occupied by Palestinians, not Israelis.

Source: Al-Ghad