Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon has secretly visited Egypt and met with top officials from the ruling military council, a report says.

The visit, which took place two weeks ago, is the first time an Israeli official has visited Egypt since the country’s former President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February.

The Israeli foreign ministry has denied the visit, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported on Tuesday.

Ayalon met with head of Egypt’s ruling military council Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi, according to the report.

Unity deal between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, the reopening of the Rafah crossing, and gas deals between the two sides were among their discussions.

Following the visit, the Rafah crossing border was closed and Egypt resumed exporting natural gas to Israel at artificially low prices.

On May 28, Egyptian authorities opened the crossing to human traffic, allowing Palestinians to enter and exit the Gaza Strip for the first time in four years.

However, Egypt abruptly closed the crossing again on June 4 without informing Palestinian border authorities and reopened it one day later, but it implemented a number of restrictions including a reduction in the number of individuals allowed through the gates.

Source: Press TV