President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi will meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the Palestinian reconciliation process and efforts to end the Israeli occupation.
Representatives of the Palestinian factions are expected to meet in Cairo on Sunday for the first time in years.
Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab Allouh said Abbas will meet with Egyptian President Al-Sisi during his visit to Cairo to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian arena.
Abbas will discuss with Al-Sisi “efforts to push forward the peace process and end the Israeli occupation, in addition to the major efforts made by Egypt to achieve national reconciliation and end the division,” Allouh said.
He added that Abbas will “open the meeting of the general secretaries of the Palestinian factions, which is held in Cairo Sunday to discuss Palestinian developments, ways to restore national unity, and ending division, in light of the escalation of Israeli aggression.”
Abbas, who leads the movement, is “determined” to restore Palestinian national unity in the face of Israel, said Fatah spokesman Hassan Hamayel.
“The escalating Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people make it imperative for all factions to end internal division and strengthen national unity,” Hamayel said.
“We are aware of the extreme danger of exploiting the internal division against the Palestinian cause by Israel and regional and international parties, which necessitates intensive work on the ground,” he said.
Fatah officials said that the movement’s delegation would offer the participating factions a government of national unity to end the division and join under the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization (plo), according to its program based on the two-state solution and recognition of international legitimacy.
Abbas held two meetings with the leadership of Hamas last Tuesday and Wednesday in Turkey, one in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the other bilaterally, without announcing any concrete understandings.
Abbas called for a meeting of the general secretaries of the Palestinian factions on 3 July, against the background of an Israeli military operation in Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, which left 12 Palestinians dead and dozens injured.
Egypt has hosted meetings of Palestinian factions for years in an effort to end the internal division that has persisted since 2007. But a series of agreements and understandings have not been implemented.
