CAIRO: Senior Israeli defense official Amos Gilad was in Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman on the situation in Gaza and the possibility of reopening its border with Egypt.
Gilad, political advisor to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, was to discuss the situation at the Rafah border crossing which has been kept largely closed since Hamas took over Gaza in June, an Israeli source said.
The border was blasted open by Hamas in January, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into Egypt to stock up on goods amid a punishing Israeli blockade. The border was resealed after 10 days.
Gilad held talks with Suleiman in Cairo a week ago during a short-lived tacit truce between Israel and Hamas.
Supported by the United States, Egypt has been separately discussing with Israel and Hamas a truce that would put an end to Palestinian rocket attacks and lift the Jewish state s blockade on Gaza.
The plan also reportedly involved an exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas, including Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit who was captured in June 2006. -AFP
