Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his deputy, Matan Vilnai, are traveling to Egypt on Tuesday for meetings with President Hosni Mubarak and Intelligence Chief General Omar Suleiman.

On their agenda is the continued incarceration of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, the Gaza ceasefire, weapons smuggling into Gaza and the arrangements regarding the Nachal Oz fuel depot and other Gaza crossings.

Since the fatal terror attack at the Nachal Oz crossing, Israel has invested over NIS 4 million in rebuilding the facility which now permits operating from a distance using enhances security procedures. The loading of vehicles on the PA side of the crossing is done a half of kilometer away from the Israeli control station, where the work is observed in a camera room. There is no direct contact between Israeli personnel and PA residents, and much has been done to prevent a repeat occurrence at the location.

Vilnai on Monday told reporters that Egyptian progress towards halting weapons smuggling from Rafiach is slow, but indeed steady, and he remains optimistic despite the realities of the current complicated situation.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)