Egypt and Israel will conduct a deal to swap an Israel-American detained in Cairo for a group of Egyptian prisoners and children, the official MENA news agency reported on Saturday.

Egypt and Israel will conduct a deal to swap an Israel-American detained in Cairo for a group of Egyptian prisoners and children, the official MENA news agency reported on Saturday.

The agency said the two sides were adding "final touches" to complete the deal of which Israeli spy Ilan Grapel, who was accused of spying inside Egypt for Israel, would be released for Egyptian prisoners and detained children.

Reports have varied about the number of Egyptian prisoners who would be released in this deal. While MENA said they were 16, the State-owned Nile TV said the number was 28, but both reports agreed that three children will be included in the deal.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has been following up this case since Thursday, two days after successfully mediating an exchange deal between the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas and Israel.

Ilan Grapel was captured in June and was accused of sowing sectarian strife and chaos in Egypt during the uprising which ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February. Pictures of Grapel taking part in the uprising, lecturing in a mosque, and wearing the Israeli military uniform were later published.