Egypt won't accept security changes on Gaza border, foreign minister says

Egypt will not accept any changes to the security arrangements that were in place on its border with Gaza before the war on Gaza broke out last October, the Egyptian foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Security on the border, and whether Israel will maintain a troop presence along a 14-km (9-mile) buffer zone known as the Philadelphi Corridor, have become a focal point of months-long talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza.

Israeli troops entered the buffer zone in May as they pursued an offensive around Rafah.

Egypt, which is a mediator in ceasefire talks, says Israel must withdraw and that a Palestinian presence needs to be restored at the Rafah crossing between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Gaza.

"Egypt reiterates its position, it rejects any military presence along the opposite side of the border crossing and the aforementioned (Philadelphi) corridor," Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters during a press conference in Cairo with U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken.

Abdelatty also said that any escalation, including blasts that killed and wounded Hezbollah operatives and other civilians in Lebanon on Tuesday, would create hurdles for the completion of a Gaza ceasefire deal.