Aug 22, 2024 - World

U.S., Israel and Egypt meet on Gaza border security sticking point

Barak Ravid

An Egyptian military vehicle is parked on Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip on July 4, 2024, — An Egyptian military vehicle parked on the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip on July 4, 2024.

Israel, Egypt and the U.S. are holding talks in Cairo on Thursday evening to try to come to an agreement on how to secure the Egypt-Gaza border and reopen the Rafah crossing, U.S. and Israeli officials said.

Why it matters: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's demand that Israel Defense Forces continue to be deployed along the Philadelphi corridor on the border of Egypt and Gaza has become one of the main — and final — points of contention on the way to a deal to release hostages being held by Hamas and establish a ceasefire in Gaza.

President Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call on Wednesday that he expects Israel to be flexible on this issue and that the talks in Cairo are intended to remove the last obstacles to a deal, U.S. officials said.
"Biden was tough on Bibi during the call," a U.S. official said.

Driving the news: The director of the Israeli Shin Bet Ronen Bar, the head of the Mossad David Barnea, and the head of the IDF's strategic division, Gen. Eliezer Toledano, flew to Egypt on Thursday to attend the talks in Cairo, Israeli and U.S. officials said.

Biden's top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk also arrived in Cairo to join the talks.

The director of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel is leading the delegation from Egypt.

Behind the scenes: Sources with knowledge of the talks said the Israeli officials arrived with an updated map that reflects Israel's official position regarding the deployment of IDF forces along the Philadelphi corridor.

The sources said the map shows a reduction in the number of IDF forces but still has their full deployment along the entire Philadelphi corridor.
Egypt has said it rejects any permanent or long-term Israeli deployment on the Palestinian side of its border with Gaza.

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U.S., Israel and Egypt meet on Gaza border security sticking point

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