Egyptian authorities have agreed to Israel's demand not to set a timetable for the IDF's withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor as a a precondition for a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel, Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper reported.
According to Al-Akhbar, the agreement represents a change in Egyptian policy, and shows that the negotiations bore fruit in the form of an Israeli agreement to reduce the number of soldiers stationed along the route "in preparation for Israeli withdrawal from the route at a later time."
The Al-Akhbar report noted that an Egyptian intelligence source said that Egypt had requested the withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor take place "as soon as possible."
The source also said that the US begged Egypt to advance the arrival of equipment to the border, as is proposed in the agreement, and to act to prevent tunnel activity along the border. Egypt, for its part, said that there are no active tunnels from the Sinai Peninsula to Gaza.
The report also said that Egypt believes the talks in Doha and Cairo "reduced the disagreements between the sides" but that this does not promise that an agreement will be signed in the coming meetings.