The border between Israel and Egypt. Photo: Yonatan Ilan via Wikimedia Commons.

A delegation of high-level Egyptian security officials is expected to visit Israel in coming days, according to Egyptian media reports on Monday. It is believed that discussions during the visit will focus on the Palestinian issue and the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula.

It was also reported on Monday that a delegation of Israeli security officials had visited Cairo a day earlier for the second time in a week.

An Egyptian official told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that the Egyptian delegation that would visit Israel would demand that Israel permit commercial goods to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

“Israel has agreed to allow entry of construction material from Qatar, which the Israelis refused before,” the Egyptian official was quoted as saying by Ma’an. “This reflects that both sides have been holding talks behind the scenes to avoid alerting the public opinion in Egypt which refuses cooperation with Israel and the United States.”

Israel has reportedly been holding secret Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas since the end of Operation Pillar of Defense in November, as part of the implementation of the cease-fire deal that halted the eight-day military confrontation between Israel and terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.