Violence continues between Palestinian factions despite truce, Egypt must talk to Syria expert says
CAIRO: Egypt should intensify its efforts in the political as opposed to the security arena to help avert the current crisis in the Palestinian territories, an expert said.
Violence in the Gaza Strip continued between Fatah, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Hamas government, despite an Egyptian-Palestinian brokered ceasefire.
However, the street battles that took place were still a marked decrease on the level of violence from before the ceasefire was agreed upon.
“What Egypt has done is send a delegation from the General Intelligence to deal with all the factions on matters of security to prevent an outbreak of violence. So there is a permanent security delegation acting as peace doves, Sobhy Essaila, an expert from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told The Daily Star Egypt.
According to Essaila this shift in Egyptian policy from political efforts to security ones stemmed from events during the last intifada when then Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was attacked during a visit to Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in Dec. 2003.
However, Essaila believes that a security role is no longer enough in the current circumstances. Although it is still an important aspect, there must also be a political bent in Egypt’s role, he said.
“Egypt cannot do much more than it does, however it must intensify its efforts in the political arena and not just focus on security issues. A comprehensive political initiative must be offered and Egypt should do this, Essaila said.
And efforts should not just be limited to the Palestinian Territories according but a more expansive approach is needed.
Essaila told The Daily Star Egypt: “The solution is not just within the Palestinian territories, but also with Syria, where Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal lives, and with Iran. Iran might be a problem for Egypt but they can discuss this with Syria. The keys to the solution lie with Syria and so Egypt must resume its political role in this respect.
AFP news agency reported Tuesday that the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned the feuding Palestinian factions against further bloodshed and urged them to abide by the truce they reached.
He urged Hamas and Fatah to abide by the cessation of hostilities agreed upon on Sunday. The violence will lead to the loss of support from the international community and sympathy of people around the world for the Palestinian cause, he told reporters.
The fighting in the Palestinian territories erupted when Abbas’ called for early elections in an attempt to form a National Unity government that will resume negotiations on a peace settlement with Israel.
As the currently elected government, Hamas regard this decision as an attempt to remove them from the political scene and end the Western boycotted.
