Report: Mossad chief met with Egyptian security officials over annexation talks

The head of Israel's clandestine intelligence agency Mossad secretly met with Egyptian high-ranking security officials earlier this week in Cairo, London-based Arabic daily Al-Araby newspaper reported Saturday. 

Yossi Cohen is said to have met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during his secret trip to Cairo.  

According to the newspaper, the aim of the meeting was to discuss Hamas and Gaza Strip, the Trump administration's controversial peace plan, and Israeli government plans to annex parts of the West Bank later this year.

Jerusalem has signaled that it is ready to extend sovereignty over large swaths of the West Bank after July 1, which includes 130 Jewish settlements and virtually all of the Jordan Valley. 

Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz has threatened to reconsider the kingdom's relations with Israel if Jerusalem carries out the controversial plan. 

Jordan's Foreign Minister repeated the warning earlier this week to American and British diplomats, saying the "unprecedented threat" of annexation could further destabilize the Middle East, Al-Araby reported. 

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab-majority countries in the Middle East that have formal peace agreements with Israel.

In anticipation of Israeli annexation, the Palestinian Authority last week said it was no longer bound by its agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments, "including those related to security."