“It can’t be said right now that the sides intend to dramatically change their positions in relation to moving forward with a prisoner deal in the near future,” said the official.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a pan-Arab media outlet headquartered in London, reported earlier this month that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel was expected to visit Israel shortly to present a general outline for a prisoner swap to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, to which Hamas has already reportedly agreed.

Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in September.

The two discussed expanding trade, increasing mutual tourism, as well as dealing with “Iranian aggression” and “global terror groups” in the Middle East.