CAIRO, Oct 26 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt notified Hamas on Sunday that it postponed a round of indirect negotiations between Palestinian factions and Israel which was due to begin in Cairo on Monday, said Hamas official Mushir al-Masri.

Masri told the Palestinian Information Centre that a Palestinian delegation from Gaza was scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Sunday yet its travel was halted due to the closure of the Rafah border-crossing connecting Gaza to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared a three-month state of emergency and a nighttime curfew in parts of the Peninsula in response to deadly militant attacks on Friday which rendered at least 33 security personnel killed.

Egypt closed the Rafah border-crossing on Saturday "until further notice" following the attacks.

Masri did not clarify if the Egyptian authorities have notified Gaza's ruling Hamas of a certain date to which the round of negotiations was postponed.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Badr Abdelatty was unavailable for comment on the issue.

Azzam al-Ahmed, Fatah movement leading figure, told state television that the round of negotiations could be postponed due to "the security situation in Sinai." 

At least 30 military personnel were killed in a suicide blast which targeted a security checkpoint in Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid on Friday, security sources told Reuters. The explosion also caused damage to two military vehicles. 

Shortly afterwards, a separate attack by unidentified gunmen on a security checkpoint in al-Arish killed three more security personnel.

Sisi said in a televised speech on Saturday that "foreign support was offered to carry out the operation" in Sinai. He did not give further details on which "foreign" parties are believed to be behind such attacks.

Egypt announced on August 26 reaching a ceasefire agreement within the Gaza strip, ending a 50-day war between Israel and Gaza's ruling body Hamas that has left 2139 Palestinians killed and over 11,100 injured. On the Israeli side sixty-four soldiers and six civilians were killed.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Palestinian factions, sponsored by Cairo, were scheduled to resume within a month after the start of the new Gaza ceasefire, as per the agreement.

The first round of negotiations was held late September. Meeting parties then agreed to reconvene in October to resume the indirect negotiations.