Egypt’s intelligence chief holds talks with Hamas in Gaza Strip

After helping to broker Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Egypt looks to shore up truce and boost its role as mediator.

A senior Hamas official has said Israel must halt its “aggression” in both the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem as Egypt’s intelligence chief met the Palestinian group’s leaders in the besieged coastal enclave to try to bolster a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Khalil al-Haya spoke after meeting Abbas Kamel, who visited Gaza after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a trip aimed at shoring up an informal ceasefire brokered by Cairo. His visit – the first by an Egyptian intelligence chief to the enclave since the early 2000s – was also aimed at discussing reconstruction plans following the recent Israeli bombardment of Gaza, according to Egyptian and Palestinian officials.