CAIRO, 02 June 2021, (TON): “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” a senior Hamas official has said.

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.

According to Egyptian and Palestinian officials, 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.

Kamel, who has not given public statements, is the highest-ranking Arab official to visit Gaza since 2018. He met with Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza.

Kamel also met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and handed him a message from el-Sisi affirming Cairo’s support for Palestinians and Abbas.