CAIRO: Egypt hosted representatives of Fatah Sunday and will also receive members of Hamas and other groups later in yet another attempt to establish a lasting ceasefire between warring Palestinian factions and with Israel.
More than 40 people have been killed in under a week when fighting broke out in the Palestinian territories between members of the different groups, up until a ceasefire was hastily called for on May 16.
Last Tuesday, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas secretly hosted Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya at his Gaza headquarters to reach a lasting framework for peace between the factions.
The Mena agency quoted Egyptian sources as saying “Egyptian talks with the Palestinian leaders will begin Sunday in Cairo as part of Egypt s intensive efforts to stabilise the truce and end Palestinian infighting.
Egypt, headed by General Borhan Hamad, will not only meet with members of Fatah and Hamas, the two groups that share power and the government, but also representatives of Islamic Jihad and both the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine.
Mena reported that the meetings with the representatives of the Palestinian groups would be held separately. “There is no intention to hold a meeting bringing all the factions around one table, the agency stated.
The head of the Egyptian security delegation based in Gaza said Friday that the Palestinian representatives might also meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has traveled to Palestine on numerous occasions in the past to mediate between the warring factions.
Additionally, a Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan told Al-Jazeera television channel that the talks in Egypt would also cover the Palestinian “political system and (try) to open the road for the national unity government to work.
After weeks of fighting between Hamas – elected into government – and Fatah a national unity government which would comprise both groups was brokered in Mecca under the umbrella of the Arab world.
However the unity of the new government did not last too long as Fatah and Hamas once again entered a cycle of intermittent fighting and short-lived Egyptian brokered ceasefires.
As representatives of Palestinian factions descend on Cairo, Israel is continuing to intensify its strikes on the Gaza Strip, accusing Hamas and other groups of ongoing rocket attacks on Southern Israel.
