Shin Bet head Ronen Bar visited Egypt on Sunday and met with the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Camel following as tensions rose between Israel and Egypt following an IDF arrest in Nablus in which three Palestinians including the suspect were killed, according to Israeli media.
A few weeks ago, the IDF set out to Operation Breaking Dawn in which strategic Islamic Jihad targets were targeted and destroyed. In response, the Islamic Jihad fired over 1100 rockets toward Israel. The operation lasted for three days at the end of which a ceasefire was agreed upon with the mediation of Egypt.
Following the ceasefire, Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke to Egyptian President Abed Fatah al-Sisi and thanked him for Egypt's role in the ceasefire in what Lapid's office reported was a long conversation.
Two days after the ceasefire, the IDF tried to arrest 18-year-old Ibrahim al-Nabulsi from the Islamic Jihad in Nablus, but Palestinians opened fire on the soldiers and al-Nabulsi was killed along with two other gunmen.
What is Bar's objective in Egypt?
The incident led to a breakdown of relations between Israel and Egypt, and Camel, who was supposed to visit Israel, canceled his trip. Bar's trip was meant to try and settle the displeasure with Israel in Cairo.
Bar and Camel were expected to discuss the situation in Gaza, and Egpyt was going to demand Israel to release the Islamic Jihad-affiliated arrestees.
In an interview with 103FM on Monday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the fact that Egypt was willing to welcome Bar and have meetings with him was good news.
"We have constant contact with Egypt, and in the last two years, there have been ups and downs," he said. "In the last few days, there has been a slight down, but we're sorting it out."