A Palestinian man stands next to a truck carrying clothes for export, at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, June 21, 2021. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

i24 News – Israel’s incoming National Security Chief (NSC) chief reportedly made a surprise trip to Cairo Sunday to meet with Egypt’s head of intelligence Abbas Kamel, according to a senior Israeli official, reported Israeli outlet Walla.

Eyal Hulata traveled to Egypt with outgoing NSC head Meir Ben-Shabbat with the main topic of conversation between the three of them the fragile Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that brought to an end 11 days of fierce fighting during the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) Operation Guardian of the Walls in May.

This meeting is the first since a new coalition government took over in Israel, with Kamel’s previous interaction a month-and-a-half ago taking place with Ben-Shabbat who in the interim announced that he was standing down, and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kamel also visited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

The meeting comes at a delicate time, with Hamas threatening to reignite hostilities over a number of potential issues; the eviction of families from Sheikh Jarrah and the problems associated with getting promised Qatari humanitarian aid into the Strip, being foremost among them.

Israel has determined that it will no longer permit suitcases full of cash to be delivered to the coastal enclave, the argument being that more often than not, the cash ends up in the hands of Hamas operatives and its military wing, rather than the Strip’s poor and needy.