Terrorists in Gaza. Archive
Terrorists in Gaza. ArchiveReuters

The al-Araby al-Jadid newspaper reported, citing Egyptian sources, that the American government in recent days has been involved in negotiations with several regional factors, led by Egypt, to prevent a total confrontation in light of American and Israeli fears of the role Iran would play in one.

According to the Egyptian sources, "The American administration has been holding intensive talks with Egyptian officials to pressure Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to stop their struggle in the West Bank due to feeling that there are attempts to ignite the Lebanese front and put pressure on the occupation government according to the Iranian agenda."

The Egyptian official also said that Egypt "is involved in the attempt to halt the Israeli plans to strike Hamas by assassinating (Saleh) al-Arouri, who is in Lebanon and who it blames for the escalation in the West Bank."

Al-Arouri serves as the deputy leader of Hamas and is responsible for directing the organization's military and terror operations in Judea and Samaria.

The official also stated that officials in the Egyptian general intelligence apparatus asked Israel to refrain from making public statements on the matter, to stop their security plan that would move the confrontation beyond Judea and Samaria, and not to strike Hamas and Jihad leaders outside Judea and Samaria.

Parallely, Egyptian officials contacted the Hamas leadership and clarified the gravity of Israel's intentions to strike the organization's officials in Lebanon, starting with al-Arouri.

Amid all this, a senior Hamas official stated that security around al-Arouri has been heightened, and his movements and encounters are being kept secret.