CAIRO: Egypt is all set to host US and Israeli officials on Sunday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing, a vital corridor for aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported.
The media reports quoted an unidentified senior official as saying Cairo was demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from the terminal on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
The official said an Egyptian-American-Israeli meeting is scheduled for Sunday in Cairo to discuss the reopening of the Rafah border crossing.
The crossing has been closed since Israeli forces captured its Palestinian side in early May, reducing aid flows into the war-hit territory.
Since then, Israel and Egypt have blamed each other for the blocking of aid deliveries through Rafah crossing. The Egyptian authorities have refused to cooperate with the Israelis and preferred to work with international or Palestinian bodies.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi after talks with US President Joe Biden last month agreed to temporarily divert UN aid to the Kerem Shalom crossing, near Rafah.
Biden on Friday revealed a plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip presented by Israel, saying it was the right time for this war to end.
The official quoted by local media said that Egypt was undertaking intensive measures to resume talks for a truce.
