Israeli and Palestinian delegations will return to Cairo in the second half of October to resume indirect talks to be hosted by Egypt.
The two sides undertook preparatory indirect talks in Cairo on Tuesday, according to the Egyptian foreign ministry. The Tuesday statement called on both sides to “adhere to install calm and advance their proposals for the agenda to discuss outstanding issues” to be addressed in the next round of indirect talks.
The ministry reported on Tuesday evening that the meetings took place as planned, despite comments from Hamas which said that the killing of Palestinians Amer Abu Aisha and Marwan Qawame by the Israeli security forces was intended to derail the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar insisted to Daily News Egypt on Tuesday that the preparatory talks would continue in Cairo.
The head of the Palestinian delegation Azzam Al-Ahmad said that the two sides had agreed on a framework agenda for the indirect talks, scheduled for the second half of October.
Al-Zahar of Hamas and Al-Ahmad of the Palestinian Authority, both part of the Palestinian delegation, remained in Cairo with their compatriots in order to participate in further Palestinian reconciliation meetings, which began on Monday.
In New York, Egypt participated in a meeting of the Committee for the Arab Peace Initiative on the sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assembly. The participants of the meeting stressed the need for the indirect talks to resume between the two sides, according to a foreign ministry spokesman.
The group agreed that there is “no strategic alternative” to the negotiations as a solution to the decades-old conflict, adding that the Arab Peace Initiative must be put into action as a basis for an internationally accepted framework.
Egypt is set to co-host an international donor conference with Norway for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip on 12 October. The densely populated strip was badly damaged during the 50 days of conflict in July and August between Palestinian factions and Israel.
The resumption of indirect talks comes as part of the open-ended ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt on 26 August. The two sides were given one month to resume the indirect talks as part of the agreement.
