The head of Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar, arrived Sunday in Egypt for meetings with his Egyptian counterpart, Abbas Kamel, according to Israeli media.
The visit come amid reports of tensions between the two countries following the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that ended the recent three-day Operation Breaking Dawn counter terrorism operation against Gaza’s Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
Part of the issue is reportedly connected to an IDF arrest operation in the Palestinian Authority city of Shechem, in which the suspected terrorist — 18-ear-old Ibraham al-Nabulsi — was killed along with two other terrorists, Islam Sobhi and Hussain Jamal Taha, after they opened fire when told to surrender.
Al-Nabulsi was wanted for leading shooting attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. The terrorist was at the top of Israel’s Most Wanted list, and was a key figure in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Authority (PA) government’s leading Fatah faction, which is also led by PA leader Mahmoud Abbas.
In response to the death of the terrorist, Kamel canceled a planned trip to Israel.
Bar’s visit is aimed at cooling down Egyptian dissatisfaction with the recent IDF arrest operation.
During Operation Breaking Dawn, Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza fired more than 1,100 rockets at Israeli civilians. Israeli Air Force personnel destroyed more than 140 strategic terrorist targets in the enclave.
