A planned visit to Israel by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman has been postponed, the official MENA news agency reported Wednesday.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying that the visit was delayed after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's health conditions deteriorated.
The 75-year-old leader is now seriously ill at a French military hospital and many fear that his final phase of life has come, keeping both Palestinians and Israelis busy with drawing up plans for post-Arafat era.
The spokesman said that both Egyptian and Israeli officials agreed to reschedule the visit for sometime after an international conference on Iraq, which is set to open in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 23.
The visit, originally scheduled for Thursday, was aimed at helping Palestinians regain control over the Gaza Strip after a planned Israeli pullout, Abul Gheit said earlier.
The top Egyptian diplomat had planned to have an in-depth exchange of views with Israeli officials on implementing the proposed withdrawal.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has planned to withdraw all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank next year.
Egypt, a major political power in the Middle East, has offered to help the Palestinians restructure their security forces as part of efforts to prepare for the expected withdrawal.