Israeli Channel 13 revealed on Wednesday that the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently attempted to schedule a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but was turned down.
The last call between Netanyahu and Sisi took place in June, following the attack on the Egyptian border.
This comes amid major disagreements with Egypt regarding Israel’s operations along the Philadelphia axis, according to the channel.
The channel added that a senior official in Netanyahu’s office confirmed these details, but no official comment was issued.
The Israeli newspaper “Maariv” described the refusal of Sisi to receive a call from Netanyahu as “a sign of the deepening crisis between Egypt and Israel.”
It called the refusal a “serious escalation” in the deteriorating relationship between both countries and that the war in Gaza resulted in Israeli-Egyptian relations being at stake.
It said that the crisis is likely to continue until the disagreement over the Philadelphia axis is resolved.
Egypt responded to Israel’s allegations that weapons smuggling operations are taking place through trucks carrying aid and goods to the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, slamming it as “empty and ridiculous nonsense.”
