CAIRO, Sept 1: Egypt and Israel signed a historic deal on Thursday for the deployment of Egyptian border guards to patrol Gaza’s southern border, a major step towards Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.

The deal, which has taken months to negotiate, will see 750 lightly armed officials fan out to stop, as Israel alleges, weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

The official said the deal was signed during a closed ceremony on a military base near Cairo by two generals whom he did not identify. Israeli media had reported earlier that Israel Ziv, chief of operations at general staff, would be the signatory for the Israeli side.

The Egyptian foreign ministry refused to comment on the signing.

“This is not a diplomatic issue but a security arrangement,” said a high-ranking official. —AFP