Egypt plays unique roles in advancing Palestinian internal reconciliation

The improvement in ties between the Hamas movement and Egypt would retain the latter as sole sponsor for achieving a reconciliation that ends more than 10 years of internal Palestinian split, analysts said. But they ruled out a breakthrough in the short run.

Following the ouster of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 when ties between Egypt and Hamas worsened, Cairo’s role in internal reconciliation significantly retreated despite its importance.

Egypt almost stopped hosting delegations of Palestinian factions for this purpose.

In separate remarks, analysts told Xinhua that the recent improvement in ties between Egypt and Hamas had brought internal Palestinian reconciliation back on the table in Cairo where previously it was handled by the Arab League.

Two days ago, Hamas said it was ready to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party to conclude a reconciliation deal. The announcement was made after a Hamas delegation, headed by its politburo chief Ismail Haneya, met in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence chief Khaled Fawzi.

Abbas chaired a meeting of his Fatah Party’s Central Committee in Ramallah on Tuesday, and stressed its “keenness to have intensive and fast dialogue with the brothers in Egypt to end the Palestinian internal split.”

Following the meeting, Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation to the dialogue with Hamas, announced he will go to Cairo within a few days to meet with the Egyptian leadership to follow up efforts at ending the Palestinian division.

Ramallah-based writer and political analyst Ashraf Ajrami described the developments as positive, stressing they need to be reflected in concrete steps and immediate progress toward Palestinian reconciliation.

He told Xinhua Hamas was required to dissolve the administrative committee it formed in the Gaza Strip months ago, without any delay, in order to halt the punitive measures taken by Abbas against the Gaza Strip.

“The step will create a positive atmosphere for reconciliation and for achieving unity that the Palestinian cause is in need for, mainly in resuming the stalled peace process,” Ajrami said.

“There is a real reason to believe that things are changing for the better in light of the development of Egyptian relations with Hamas.”

It allowed a greater margin for Cairo to move from security issues to other political issues, he said.

The internal Palestinian division began in 2007 after Hamas’ violent takeover of the Gaza Strip following rounds of internal fighting with forces loyal to the Palestinian National Authority.

In response to seizing control of Gaza, President Abbas dismissed the national unity government, headed by Haneya. However, Hamas rejected the decision and kept a government that ruled the enclave.

Despite the formation of a first consensus government in June 2014 with an understanding of reconciliation reached two months earlier between a delegation from the PLO and Hamas in Gaza, it did not contribute to a practical end of the split.

The consensus government kept accusing Hamas of not ruling Gaza and keeping a shadow government under its administration, while Hamas complained that the government neglected the Gaza Strip and didn’t help resolve its growing crises, especially the salaries of 43,000 employees under Hamas since 2007.