Israel's foreign minister meets Sisi in rare Egypt visit
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met with his Egyptian counterpart and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Thursday, for talks on the besieged Gaza Strip and Iran's nuclear programme, the two sides said.
The official spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said that the meeting dealt with a range of bilateral issues, particularly the Palestinian issue.
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According to the presidency website, Sisi referred to Egypt's efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip, as well as his government's continuing efforts to prevent an outbreak of tension between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.
Meanwhile, Lapid tweeted: "I thank President Sisi, whose contribution to the region and the relations between us is of historic proportions."
"I presented the president my 'economy for security' programme for Gaza and the steps taken by the Israeli government with regards to the Palestinian issue," he added.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and is one of Israel's closest regional allies.
In his meeting with Sisi, Lapid noted "Iran's attempts to become a country with a military nuclear capability as well as its continued use of terrorism, and the threat this poses to the Middle East".
Security deal
The visit comes a month after both countries struck a security deal to boost the number of Egyptian troops around the border town of Rafah in the restive Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt's Rafah crossing is the only passage to Gaza not controlled by Israel.
Operations have been conducted against Islamic State militants across Egypt since February 2018. They have mainly focused on North Sinai and the country's Western Desert.
Around 1,073 suspected militants and dozens of security personnel have been killed in the operations, according to official figures.
In a 2019 interview on US television network CBS, Sisi acknowledged Egypt's army was working closely with Israel in combating "terrorists" in North Sinai.
Security coordination has been at an all-time high between the regional heavyweights, with Cairo playing a key role in negotiating a ceasefire in May between Israel and Gaza's rulers Hamas to end 11 days of fighting.
Lapid's arrival comes on the back of Sisi meeting Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the southern Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, the first visit in over a decade by an Israeli head of government.
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