Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns on Tuesday discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza war, the Egyptian presidency said.
"The president affirmed the Egyptian position rejecting the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip," the presidency said in a statement.
Senior US officials were in the region to push for a ceasefire after Hamas made concessions last week, but the Palestinian militant group said a new Israeli assault on Gaza on Monday threatened truce talks at a crucial moment and called for mediators to rein in Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reported.
An Egyptian security delegation will head to Doha on Wednesday "on a mission to bring viewpoints closer between Hamas and Israel in order to reach a truce agreement as soon as possible," Egypt's state-affiliated Al-Qahera News cited a senior source as saying.
Egypt and Qatar have been leading mediating efforts in the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas in hopes of ending the fighting and securing the release of Israeli hostages in exchange of Palestinian prisoners.
