Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Ronen Bar met Egypt’s newly appointed intelligence chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad in Cairo on Sunday, CNN reported, citing an Israeli official.
The two discussed how to move forward with negotiations on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, the official said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appointed Rashad as head of the powerful general intelligence agency this past Wednesday.
Egypt, along with Qatar, has served as one of the mediators in the negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
The negotiations have been stalled as Hamas has continuously rejected every proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that has been presented to it.
Last month, the terrorist group once again said that its negotiators reiterated the group’s readiness to implement an "immediate" ceasefire with Israel in Gaza based on a previous US proposal without new conditions from any party.
Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said last week that there had been no conversations or engagement with any parties for the last three to four weeks to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
"On the prospects of the negotiation ... basically in the last three to four weeks, there is no conversation or engagement at all, and we are just moving in the same circle with the silence from all parties," he told reporters at the conclusion of a summit between the EU and GCC in Brussels, as quoted by Reuters.