Israel’s Yair Lapid to meet Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, discuss Hamas: reports

Israel’s Yair Lapid to meet Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, discuss Hamas: reports
Israel's foreign minister Yair Lapid is expected to discuss a tentative Israel-Hamas truce with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo this week.
2 min read
07 December, 2021
Israeli FM Yair Lapid is expected to meet Sameh Shoukry and other Egyptian officials [Getty]

Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is scheduled to visit Cairo this week, according to Israeli media reports.

Lapid is slated to meet Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, as well as other Egyptian officials. 

Talks are expected to cover the tentative Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas, as well as the issue of Israelis and remains of Israeli soldiers being held in the besieged Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported Monday.

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The two foreign ministers met previously at an EU conference in Brussels in July. 

This was followed by a meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in September, the first visit to Egypt by an Israeli leader in a decade. 

It is not clear whether Lapid will meet with Sisi this week. If they do meet, Lapid intends to present stolen Egyptian artefacts that were smuggled to Israel and are now held by the antiquities authority, according to Israel’s Channel 12. 

Since the bombing of Gaza in May, Egypt has attempted to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas that involves a prisoner swap. 

Israel wants Hamas to release two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two Israeli soldiers currently being held in Gaza. 

Hamas wants Israel to release scores of Palestinians currently in prison.