ARAB AND WORLD
Tue 07 Nov 2023 7:11 am - Jerusalem Time
Report: Netanyahu and Sisi have not spoken since the start of the war
While the report stated that “Egypt has proven in the past to be an effective mediator in conflicts between Israel and Hamas,” it noted that “there are many disagreements and anger between Egypt and Israel over a variety of issues.”
An Israeli press report stated that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, had not spoken since the start of the war on Gaza, a month ago, but it indicated that a delegation from the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) had visited Egypt during the war. .
This came according to what was reported by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority (“Kan 11”), citing unnamed foreign and Israeli sources.
According to an Israeli source, "direct contact between the heads of state would have helped in the ongoing talks today regarding the hostages."
The report pointed out that Cairo “maintains contacts with Israel through several other sources, including the head of the (Israeli General Security Service) Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and other sources,” which it did not mention.
In the same regard, the report said that “senior Shin Bet officials visited Egypt during the war.”
While the report stated that “Egypt has proven in the past to be an effective mediator in conflicts between Israel and Hamas,” it noted that “there are many disagreements and anger between Egypt and Israel over a variety of issues.”
Among the issues are those “related to the proposal to receive Gaza refugees, and with regard to activities in Rafah (such as the entry of humanitarian aid from the crossing) and other issues.”
According to the same report, Israeli sources say, “There is an attempt to renew Egyptian activity on various issues, including talks between the Egyptian Foreign Minister and his ministerial counterparts in Israel.”
This comes as US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, failed to reach understandings with the Arab foreign ministers in Amman, the day before yesterday, Saturday, on “one agreed upon vision” regarding the management of the besieged Gaza Strip after the war that Israel has been waging for 31 days. on the Gaza Strip, while renewing Washington's attempts to pressure Cairo to agree to receive refugees from the Gaza Strip, which is met with "strict rejection from the Egyptian military establishment."
This came according to what Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper reported on Monday, citing Egyptian sources familiar with Cairo’s movements regarding the Israeli aggression, following the meeting that brought together Blinken with his Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi, Qatari and Emirati counterparts in the Jordanian capital, with the participation of the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
The sources pointed out that Blinken “failed to reach a single agreed-upon vision, due to the discrepancy in positions between Washington and some Arab parties attending the meeting,” while an Egyptian diplomat who spoke to the newspaper explained that Blinken’s visit to Amman was primarily aimed at discussing “scenarios for managing the Gaza Strip in Following the end of the Israeli aggression.”
It explained that Blinken’s efforts were rejected by 3 parties participating in the meeting, and the Egyptian diplomat indicated that “some participants assured Blinken that it is impossible to completely eradicate the Hamas movement from Gaza, which means that the war must end first, so that thinking can begin in light of Its results, and an estimate of the magnitude of the force of the movement at that time.”
The newspaper quoted another source as saying that Cairo had received “a new proposal regarding hosting numbers of residents of the Gaza Strip,” saying that “the new proposal came beyond Egyptian fears, announced through officials in Cairo, about the possibility of those who will move from the Gaza Strip to Sinai representing a subsequent threat to Egyptian security.” If they launch attacks on the Israeli occupation from within Egyptian territory.”
The source explained, "The new proposal included transferring the numbers that could be agreed upon to the west of the Suez Canal by distributing them to the canal governorates, represented by Port Said, Suez, and Ismailia, and not to the east of the canal as was proposed to settle them in Sinai."
The source added, "All of these scenarios are met with strict rejection by the Egyptian military establishment, which refuses to respond to any of the proposals to resettle the population of the Gaza Strip or part of them in Egypt, regardless of the temptations and facilities offered by the American administration and Western parties."
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Report: Netanyahu and Sisi have not spoken since the start of the war