Egypt is hoping to reach a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza by sending a high-level delegation to Israel. Still, two officials warned on Friday that a potential new Israeli offensive aimed at the Egyptian border city of Rafah in the south could have disastrous effects on regional stability.
Speaking anonymously to freely discuss the mission, an Egyptian official stated that Egyptian intelligence head Abbas Kamel intends to make it plain that Egypt “will not tolerate” Israel’s troop deployments along Gaza’s borders with Egypt while he is in Israel.
An Israeli citizen, the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon, and Israeli military personnel were killed earlier on Friday when they launched anti-tank missiles and artillery shells at an Israeli military convoy in a disputed area along the border.
Hezbollah said that just before midnight on Thursday, two trucks in the convoy were destroyed by its militants ambushing them. According to the Israeli military, an Israeli citizen working on infrastructure was injured in the attack and subsequently succumbed to his wounds.
As Israel has been targeting prominent Hezbollah militants in recent months, low-intensity warfare along the Israel-Lebanon border has, on several occasions, threatened to explode.
On both sides of the border, tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee. Ten civilians and twelve troops have died in cross-border fighting on the Israeli side, while over 350 people have died in Lebanon, including 271 Hezbollah fighters and 50 civilians.
At least five people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah on Thursday, according to Palestinian hospital sources.
Also Read:
Foreign Ministers from Cyprus and Saudi Arabia Talk About Relations
Saudi Arabia establishes a Center for Witness Protection.
