Egypt has not yet despaired of reaching a comprehensive arrangement between Israel and Hamas in order to prevent a large-scale armed conflict between the two sides. In the past two weeks, representatives of the Egyptian intelligence came to the Gaza Strip four times and met Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and head of Hamas in Gaza Yahya Sinwar. The most comprehensive meeting took place Oct. 16, when a large Egyptian delegation of at least 20 senior officials and diplomats came to Gaza, headed by Deputy Chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence Ayman Badia. 

Following these meetings, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Abbas Kamel was supposed to visit Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority (PA), but he canceled his visit following the rocket fire that hit a home in Beersheba Oct. 17 and concern that a military conflagration between the sides would follow. His deputy, Badia, found himself investing much effort to prevent a war instead of advancing talks toward an arrangement, and his efforts have indeed born fruit — Israel’s response was relatively restrained after he and his aides delivered calming messages from side to side. 

In parallel, the official responsible for the Palestinian desk at the Egyptian intelligence services, Ahmed Abd al-Halak, arrived in Gaza, to continue talks on an arrangement. He entered the Gaza Strip through the Israel-Gaza Erez border crossing after he met with senior officials in the Israeli security establishment. 

The Egyptians understand that right now there is no chance for a broader arrangement because of a series of stubborn obstacles — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to enter Gaza (in terms of taking control and responsibility), Hamas’ refusal to stop the demonstrations at the fence and Israel’s refusal to move forward without a deal to return its citizens and bodies of soldiers and without a mechanism that would ensure that Hamas’ armed wing will not get its hands on the money and raw materials that would flow into Gaza during a truce, if it’s achieved. Lacking an immediate chance for a broader arrangement that would bring about significant relief in the closure, Egypt has concluded that it must find a temporary solution to calm the situation. Thus, for instance, on Oct. 25, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman authorized continuing to provide fuel to the Gaza Strip with Qatari funding, after he stopped its flow in response to the rocket fire last week and the violent protests at the fence.