The delegations of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the secular Fatah formation concluded this Saturday in Cairo, without agreement, a series of meetings on the joint administration of the Gaza Strip and its border crossings once the war ends.
As Palestinian sources close to the talks have informed EFE, the Hamas delegation has already left the Egyptian capital, and that of Al Fatah, led by the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbaswill do so tomorrow, Sunday, after verifying that the meetings “have not produced results.”
“It has been agreed that Cairo will soon organize a meeting of all Palestinian factions,” the sources said.
In this round of talks “no progress has been made regarding the mechanism to manage Gaza at this stage, nor in the post-war and reconstruction phase,” they have highlighted.
The same sources have explained that Egypt has proposed the creation of special committees made up of public figures, not affiliated with any Palestinian faction, to be responsible for the administration of border crossings, including the passage of Rafahwhich connects southern Gaza with the Egyptian Sinai and has remained closed since Israel invaded the border area last May.
Both Hamas as Fatahwho have been meeting since Wednesday in Cairo under the mediation of Egyptian Intelligence, have been “against any Israeli presence” at said crossing. Egypt has also expressed its opposition to the Israeli presence in Rafah.
One of the points of divergence is that Hamas has demanded that the committees be administratively and financially independent of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). In addition, Hamas has requested that the members of these committees include figures affiliated with its group.
Another of Hamas’s demands has been that its representatives supervise and collect crossing fees, in addition to controlling the technical operating systems of the border crossings, something that Fatah has flatly rejected.
In addition, Fatah has ruled out the possibility of forming a new Palestinian government, arguing that the current government, led by Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafais a new executive made up of technocrats.
Hamas and Fatah have been at odds since 2007, when the Islamist group expelled the forces of Fatah of Gazadissolved the joint Executive and took control by force after having won the legislative elections the previous year.
Despite these tensions, both factions, along with around twenty Palestinian groups, signed at the end of July in Beijing a declaration in which they committed to overcoming their differences and strengthening dialogue and Palestinian unity.
Source: www.vozpopuli.com
