WASHINGTON, July 17. /TASS/. High-ranking officials from the United States, Israel and Palestine held secret talks in Tel Aviv last week to discuss the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Axios news portal wrote citing US and Israeli officials.

The talks were attended by the White House’s top Middle East Adviser, Brett McGurk; the director of the Israeli Shin Bet security agency, Ronen Bar; and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' top deputies — minister Hussein al-Sheikh and director of intelligence Majed Faraj.

US officials said the reopening of Rafah would be crucial for implementing the first stage of the ceasefire and hostage deal, which includes evacuation of wounded Hamas members to Egypt. The resumption of the crossing’s work could also be the first step towards creating a wider post-war strategy for the stabilization and reconstruction of Gaza, Axios sources said.

According to the report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still opposes any official Palestinian involvement in the functioning of Rafah.

The White House, the Shin Bet and al-Sheikh declined to comment, the portal said.

Situation in the Middle East

Until recently, Rafah had been the only crossing to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza and evacuate the sick and wounded to Egypt. However, it has been practically closed for about two months after the Israeli military took its Palestinian side under control on May 7. Following this, Cairo said on June 11 that it would not agree its further actions around the crossing with Israel. Several days later, it blamed Israel for the crossing’s closure and problems with humanitarian deliveries to Gaza. Currently, humanitarian cargoes reach the enclave via the Kerem Shalom crossing, with a larger part of them still coming from Egypt.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.