Egypt and Palestine leaders meet amid growing speculation of a potential political deal

Egyptian and Palestinian leaders met in Cairo yesterday amid signs of a rapprochement between Cairo and Hamas that could shake up Gaza’s political landscape and sideline the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Officials close to Mr Abbas said he met Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi to seek clarification on what seems to be an emerging power-sharing deal between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and an exiled Abbas rival, Mohammed Dahlan. Mr Dahlan, who lives in the UAE, was a former leading figure in Mr Abbas’s Fatah movement.

Under the apparent deal Hamas would retain control over Gaza’s security, while Mr Dahlan would eventually return to Gaza and handle its foreign relations.

A statement by Egypt’s presidential spokesman said the two leaders discussed the latest developments in the Palestinians’ bid for statehood and ways to revive the peace process.

Mr Dahlan became a key Fatah figure after Hamas’s victory in parliamentary elections in 2006, which eventually led to the violent takeover of Gaza by the group a year later.

Mr Dahlan and Hamas have been bitter enemies, but their interests began to align in recent months.

Mr Dahlan’s desire to return from exile and one day succeed Mr Abbas has coincided with Hamas’s growing desperation as the Palestinian president applies greater financial pressure on Gaza.

The emerging understandings between Egypt, Hamas and Mr Dahlan could pose a serious threat to Mr Abbas and the prospects of Palestinian statehood in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – the lands Israel captured in the 1967 war. A Palestinian “mini state” in Gaza could undermine the official state sought by Mr Abbas and others within pre-1967 lines.

If implemented, such understandings would probably help to ease Gaza’s decade of isolation, but would also deepen the Israeli-enforced disconnect between Gaza and the West Bank.

Egypt has long accused Hamas of providing sanctuary, as well as supporting, Islamic militants fighting its security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, a region that borders Gaza and Israel. For Hamas’s decade-long rule of Gaza, Egypt has joined Israel in a blockade of the Palestinian territory.

But relations between Egypt and Hamas appear to have recently thawed.

Hamas officials said the two sides have negotiated security arrangements for the Gaza-Egypt border to ensure that militants operating in Sinai do not use Gaza as a refuge. In line with the agreement, Hamas has begun creating a security buffer zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt. In return, Cairo has provided Gaza’s rulers with fuel for its power station.

The Egyptian fuel shipments appear to have undermined the stepped-up financial pressure on Hamas by Mr Abbas. The Palestinian president had hoped such measures would force Hamas to cede ground in Gaza and gradually turn the population against the ruling group.

Cairo has long accused Hamas of providing sanctuary to Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula