Barak to meet Mubarak; official says 'progress expected'

Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday. The two will discuss jumpstarting the peace process with the Palestinians following the talks Mubarak held with the Americans and the Palestinians.

Israel and the US hope Egypt can pressure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas into returning to the negotiation table.

According to the London-based Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, Abbas refused to restart the talks based on an American proposal that he must waive his demand for a complete freeze in the construction of settlements.

The report, Abbas is under "a direct threat that he will be completely ignored by the Egyptian leadership."

An Israeli official accompanying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his trip to Poland said, "We may see developments and progress in the peace process in the coming days."

The official called Mubarak's decision to construct an underground steel wall along its border with Gaza "impressive" and said the Egyptian regime "is right to prevent the smuggling of arms into Gaza."

The official dismissed reports of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying, "Israel has increased the number of trucks entering Gaza by 20%. The markets there are filled with consumer goods.