ALBAWABA - Citing two Israeli sources familiar with the issue, Israeli channel 13 stated that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has refused to take a call that was requested by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office through the Israeli National Security Council.
The channel also reported that a source in Netanyahu's office confirmed the details, but that the office has not officially commented on the incident. Similarly, the Egyptian presidency has issued no official statement regarding what happened.
According to Israeli TV channel 13, the attempt to arrange a call between El-Sisi and Netanyahu coincides with disagreements between Israel and Egypt over a possible Israeli military operation along the Philadelphi corridor and Rafah.
According to the Israeli TV channel, the last reported conversation between El-Sisi and Netanyahu occurred in June, following the shooting incident at the border between the two countries and months before the start of the war in Gaza.
For several weeks, Netanyahu has stated that the Israeli army will re-occupy and control the Philadelphi Corridor, a 100-meter-wide buffer zone stretching 14 kilometers along the Egypt-Gaza border, as part of the military operation.
Egyptian officials have repeatedly rejected the Israeli Prime Minister's announcement, arguing that retaking the border corridor would violate the annexes of the Egypt-Israeli Peace Treaty, signed in Washington in 1979.
