[ad_1]
A Fatah delegation left on Sunday in Cairo to meet senior Egyptian intelligence officials and respond to a paper presented by the Egyptians to promote reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
According to Azzam al-Ahmad, a prominent member of the Fatah Central Committee who led the delegation, the Palestinian Authority is leaning towards the Egyptian proposal. Hamas agreed to Egypt earlier this month.
>> Analysis: Egypt signals cautious optimism as mediator of Hamas-Israel negotiations on Gaza
On the eve of the departure of the delegation, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared that his position had not changed since 2011, and that the Palestinian Authority should take full control of the Gaza Strip , not partially.
Senior Fatah officials told Haaretz that Abbas and other senior officials did not want to appear to reject the Egyptian document. In light of this, their intention was to cooperate to try to advance reconciliation. A senior Fatah official said the Palestinian Authority was monitoring the efforts of Egypt and UN envoy Nikolay Mladenov, and did not want to be excluded from the process.
The Hamas agreement on the plan also stems from the desire not to be seen as collaborating with the gesture that the United States is trying to advance, in which the Gaza Strip will receive a form of political status , thus separating it from West Bank.
Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip added that the ceasefire proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also not a solution. According to them, the information they have is pointing to an old formula of easing the blockade in exchange for calm, without any political perspective.
According to the plan proposed by Egypt, Moussa Abu Marzouk, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said that the AP would lift the sanctions imposed on Gaza and that the PA ministers would return to their offices in the Gaza Strip. The plan promotes the establishment of a unity government and a meeting of PLO institutions with the participation of Hamas. The Egyptian proposal is based on the agreement of reconciliation signed by the parties in 2017. The Egyptian scheme does not refer to the military wing of Hamas, and disarming it is not at the order of the party. day. According to Marzouk, the proposal guarantees the integration of Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip in the offices of the PA.
In Egypt, pressure is being exerted to promote reconciliation, in the belief that this will allay tensions in the Gaza Strip. In addition, the proposal will give Hamas the opportunity to make the decision to stop incendiary balloons and kites and significantly reduce the weekly protests at the Gaza border fence that began in March.
Fatah and Hamas have been at odds since the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, when Hamas defeated Fatah and seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Since then, efforts have been made to form a new government. Union, the last of which was reached in October last year.
The PA began imposing its latest round of sanctions on Gaza in April 2017, in response to Hamas's establishment in March of an administrative committee to manage Gaza independently, which the PA considers a parallel government. In order to exert pressure on Hamas for it dismantles the committee, the PA has stopped paying for the electricity supply of the Israeli-controlled Gaza Strip, has cut wages the Gaza government from 30% to 50%, 80% of the number of people allowed to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment.
In July 2017, the Palestinian government in Ramallah announced its intention to impose early retirement to 6,145 public sector employees aged 50 and over, who receive their salary from the Palestinian Authority. This figure represents more than half of the 11,000 public sector employees who have continued to work in Gaza since the arrival of Hamas in 2007 and who include essential services such as education and health.
Hamas announced in September 2017 that it would dismantle the administrative committee that it had established but pending the implementation of the reconciliation agreement, the sanctions of the PA continue.
The Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that Mladinov will meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday after the arrival of the Fatah delegation in Cairo.
According to the report, Mladinov will present a plan that will imply that Israel will remove trade restrictions at the Kerem Shalom border crossing and expand fishing zones while Hamas will engage in the ceasefire, including the flaming balloons. In a second phase, Hamas will unveil additional details about the fate of the Israeli soldiers it holds in exchange for additional relief measures and the advancement of projects in the Gaza Strip that will allow for the return of the troops. improve the humanitarian situation.
However, according to the report, Hamas insists that all information about the soldiers must ensure the release of the prisoners of the Shalit accord that Israel has released and re-arrested.
According to the report, Mladinov warned all parties that the collapse of the plan could lead to a frontal collision between Israel and Hamas.
[ad_2]
Source link
