Axios website quoted the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, as saying that Egypt is trying to reach a long-term agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian resistance factions, and to conclude a prisoner exchange deal.
Kamel confirmed - according to the site - that Egypt talks every day to the Israelis and Palestinians on several issues, including a possible long-term ceasefire agreement in Gaza, allowing humanitarian relief and reconstruction, and the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which Egypt is working for it "night and day", as the site reported.
Kamel explained that such a deal should begin with the release of elderly Palestinian prisoners, women and teenage girls in Israeli prisons, and the return of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers and the release of two Israeli civilians detained by Hamas in Gaza.
He held the "short conversation" with Kamel - who rarely speaks publicly - the site's correspondent from Israel on the sidelines of the United Nations summit on climate change "COP26" (COP26) in Glasgow, and titled his report as "a cigarette break with the director of Egyptian intelligence," and described His meeting "in an extraordinary confrontation with a man who is not only the director of intelligence, but also the right-hand man of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi."
The reporter said that Kamel expressed his satisfaction with the state of Egyptian-Israeli relations, and said that Sisi's meeting in mid-September with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Sharm el-Sheikh was exceptionally good.
The intelligence chief noted that Bennett represented a significant change compared to his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, who also had a close relationship with Sisi.
Kamel stressed that the Egyptians hope that the Israeli government will remain stable, and believe that they can work with it effectively, despite the fact that it is made up of several parties with divergent views.
He expressed Egypt's desire to see the new Israeli government and the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah start a kind of political dialogue. "We can start talks at a lower level and move slowly, but we need to start," he said.
He added that he would visit Israel later this month for talks with Bennett and other senior officials.
This will be his second visit since the new Israeli government took office.
He is likely to visit Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.