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Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported the latest developments on Friday morning. Ceasefire talks In the Gaza Strip.
The newspaper said, “A high-level Israeli security delegation arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo yesterday to resume discussions, in which, among others, US and Egyptian delegations also took part.”
According to the newspaper, the Israeli delegation included the likes of Shin Bet, Ronan Bar and David Baniya of Mossad, as well as General Eliezer Toledano, head of the strategic planning department of the occupation forces, and the U.S. side also sent negotiators led by Brett McGurk, the special envoy for Egypt, and Abbas Kamel, the head of the General Intelligence Service.
She said the meetings were particularly centered around the Philadelphia axis and the Rafah crossing. Egypt is therefore seen as a negotiating party, not just a mediator, as the issues revolve around its borders and the land crossings that connect its land to that of the Gaza Strip. Military presence and operations there are governed by the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, which a few days ago were called for to be amended to allow Israel to strengthen its military presence in the border area, but Cairo rejected the request.
According to Axios, citing people familiar with the matter, “Israeli officials arrived in Cairo carrying an updated map of Israeli military deployments in the Philadelphia corridor.”
The source explained that “the map shows a reduction in the number of ground forces, but the latter are still deployed throughout the corridor”. It was also reported that “Israel proposed to set up eight watchtowers on the Egyptian border, while the United States proposed to reduce their number to two, but Egypt rejected both proposals.”
In the same context, the Wall Street Journal quoted an Egyptian official as saying that “Cairo is seeking U.S. assurances that even if Israel leaves the Philadelphia corridor in the first phase of any deal, it will not return in a subsequent phase if the process goes awry.” However, it is worth distinguishing between these limited discussions and the “negotiation summit,” a round of which took place in Doha last week and another round of which is expected in Cairo in the coming days (probably Sunday).
While yesterday’s talks were limited to Egypt, Israel and the United States, the second “negotiation summit” will also include the Qataris, and the Hamas movement will be informed of its progress and consider its positions and observations, similar to what happened in Doha.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, “Before the Cairo round of negotiations begins next Sunday, the Israeli team will work with the mediating countries’ team to try to narrow the gap (…) In addition, great pressure is being exerted from multiple directions on Hamas to force it to join the negotiating table in the Egyptian capital.
While yesterday’s discussion was about a new proposal adopted by the mediators, especially the Americans, to deploy international forces in the Philadelphia and Nezarim axis for a limited time in the first phase of the agreement, in addition to the Rafah crossing, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement yesterday in two separate statements denying any talk that Israel is ready to withdraw its troops from Philadelphia, adding that “talks of discussing the deployment of international forces in the axis are incorrect, Netanyahu is committed to Israeli control over the area.”
Although the US website Axios revealed that “US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call the day before yesterday that he hopes Israel will remain flexible on the Philadelphia Corridor issue.”
The website quoted US officials as saying that “the Cairo talks are aimed at removing the final obstacles to reaching an agreement.”
Israeli newspaper Maariv cited sources as saying that “the main obstacle to the deal negotiations is Netanyahu’s refusal to withdraw troops from the Philadelphia axis,” while these sources recommended “lowering expectations on the possibility of reaching a swap deal.”
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