Egyptian Deputy Head of Intelligence Leads a Team That Talks with Hamas to Stop Shooting and Arrangement with Israel • Delegation Continues to Tel Aviv

• Rafah Crossing // Photo: Reuters

Palestinian media outlets and senior officials in Gaza said Monday that a senior Egyptian security delegation led by Egyptian Deputy Chief of Intelligence, General Ayman Badia, entered the Gaza Strip via the Erez crossing.

The delegation will meet with Hamas officials to discuss stabilizing the calm in the Gaza Strip following the rocket launching and explosion balloons in recent days toward Israel, as well as further the process of arranging in Gaza. Reports say that members of the Egyptian delegation also hold the Palestinian file in Egyptian intelligence, Ahmed Abdelhalk.

Egyptian officials confirmed to Israel today that members of the Egyptian delegation had already arrived on Sunday from Cairo to Tel Aviv and they had also met with security forces in Israel before entering the Gaza Strip.

Recipients of Palestinian Islamic Jihad initially denied that a delegation of Egyptian intelligence was expected to reach Gaza and meet with the heads of Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip, but Hamas confirmed that members of the Egyptian delegation had reached Gaza in an attempt to lower tensions at the border and prevent escalation with the escalation Hamas and other Palestinian officials.

Rocket fire to the south continues

The IDF attacked Hamas military sites in the Gaza Strip at night, in response to rocket fire at Gaza envelope communities earlier this evening.

An IDF spokesman said that IDF fighter jets and aircraft attacked several Hamas targets, including a training compound and military infrastructure in the southern Gaza Strip. The attack was carried out in response to a steep route from the Gaza Strip to Israeli territory earlier this evening.

IDF attack in Gaza // Photo: AFP

The IDF said: "Attacking these targets is hampering the ability of the Hamas terrorist organization to intensify. The IDF sees very rigorously any terrorist activity toward Israeli territory and is in high readiness for a variety of scenarios.

Earlier, a red color alarm was sounded in Sderot and the surrounding communities. The IDF confirmed that one of the Gaza Strip's launches into Israeli territory was detected. The escalation has not stopped and continues the trend of the past few days, when only a rocket fell yesterday in an open area in the Negev regional council, but no red color alarm was heard.