GAZA CITY: A Hamas delegation left Gaza yesterday for Cairo in order to lay the groundwork for talks aimed at ending internal Palestinian political rifts. A senior Hamas official said the delegation would discuss all issues with officials in Cairo without any reservations.
Mahmoud Al-Zahar told reporters before leaving Gaza that the delegation “is going to Cairo with an open mind. We will go to see what the Egyptians have in mind. For our part, we will see what we can achieve.”
The Hamas delegation will be the last of 12 Palestinian political factions that have been meeting with Egyptian officials for some time to discuss ways of launching an inter-Palestinian dialogue to end ongoing political split between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Egypt plans to invite all factions to a summit in Cairo in early November.
“We will arrive in Cairo today and tomorrow we will begin meetings with our Egyptian brothers,” Al-Zahar said.
In a press statement, Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas said that the delegation will be headed by Musa Abu Marzuk, the No. 2 official in Hamas’ Damascus headquarters, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, Saeed Siyam and Khalil Al-Haiyaa, all senior leaders of the movements in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, Osama Al-Muzini, a senior Hamas official, told reporters that his movement has four reservations on Egyptian proposals for a dialogue. The reservations were related to the reform of a transitional government made up of technocrats, extending the term of the Palestinian Legislative Council, dealing with Gaza separately from the West Bank and reforming the security apparatus in Gaza without reforming it in the West Bank.
