Shin Bet chief’s secret Cairo visit seeks to revive stalled hostage deal talks

Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar secretly visited Cairo on Sunday, where he met with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel, Report informs via The Jerusalem Post.

The main objective of the covert meeting was to find ways to restart the stalled talks over a possible hostage deal, which has been a key issue between Israel and Egypt since the Israel-Hamas War began on October 7, 2023.

This was reportedly the first visit by a top Israeli official to Cairo since August 22. Back then, Bar and Mossad Chief David Barnea met with Egyptian leaders to discuss the deployment of IDF forces along the Philadelphi Corridor, which has been a controversial subject throughout past negotiations, and the reopening of the Rafah crossing.

The past talks did not lead to any progress in returning the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has since caused a serious strain in Israeli-Egyptian relations.