Israeli, Egyptian officials to meet in Cairo on Shalit deal

Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's Security-Diplomatic Bureau, is scheduled to leave for Egypt later Sunday for a meeting with Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman.

Gilad's trip, held at Suleiman's invitation, is said to center around the negotiations for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Hamas, Egypt and Israel have come to a standstill on the matter of group's demand to release 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.

Israel has recently agreed to release 200 men out of a 450-men list submitted by Hamas. To date, Israel has agreed to free 450 Palestinian prisoners in return for the 22-year-old serviceman.

Egypt is trying to broker a deal which would, among other things, allow for the opening of the Rafah crossing and facilitate further mitigations for Palestinians in the various crossings and checkpoints.

The Jewish state, at this point, has refused Hamas' latest demand, which was resubmitted citing a greater number of prisoners, after the return of Hizbullah captives Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

Gilad's visit follows another Cairo meeting, this time between rival Palestinians factions Fatah and Hamas. Delegations representing the two met in the Egyptian capital last week, in an attempt to bridge gaps and form a Palestinian national unity government.

Any political move which may end the rift within the Palestinian Authority, Cairo believes, may reignite the halted talks on Shalit.

Both Israel and Egypt wish to try and speedup the negotiations, in wake of the nearing presidential elections in the Palestinian Authority, which may result in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas being ousted.