An Egyptian source announced, on Saturday evening, the start of a meeting between the Fatah and Hamas movements in Cairo, to discuss the establishment of a committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip, in addition to continuing efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Strip.

The Egyptian Cairo News Channel quoted a security source described as responsible and informed, confirming "the launch of meetings between the Fatah and Hamas movements in Cairo regarding the Gaza Strip through the Community Support Committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip."

He explained that "the meetings are a purely Palestinian affair and the Egyptian efforts aim to unify the Palestinian ranks and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people."

He pointed out that the Fatah and Hamas movements "showed more flexibility and positivity towards establishing the Community Support Committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip," and said that the committee is affiliated with the Palestinian Authority and includes independent figures and is issued by presidential decree from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and is responsible for managing the Gaza Strip.

The source stated that "Fatah and Hamas have a positive view of the Egyptian moves regarding the formation of the Community Support Committee despite the challenges facing the Palestinian cause," and stressed that "the Fatah and Hamas meeting in Cairo sought to achieve Palestinian unity and not separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip."

cease-fire

In a related context, the source revealed that "there are intensive Egyptian contacts to urge the Palestinian and Israeli sides to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip," and stressed that there is "international support for the Egyptian efforts with the Palestinian and Israeli sides with the aim of reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and restoring calm there, despite the unwillingness of either side to respond to those efforts."

He pointed out that Hamas insists on not dividing the negotiations for fear of handing over the prisoners and then the Israeli side returning to fire.

On Thursday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi discussed with CIA Director William Burns in the capital, Cairo, the latest developments in joint efforts to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip, in light of the ongoing Israeli war, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.

The visit came days after a meeting hosted by Doha, attended by Burns, to discuss reviving the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, which have been stalled for about two months.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been waging a genocidal war on Gaza, resulting in more than 144,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.

Despite the ongoing mediation efforts of Qatar and Egypt for about a year, alongside Washington, and the presentation of one agreement proposal after another to end the war on Gaza and exchange prisoners, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on setting new conditions that include the continuation of the war and the rejection of Hamas’s presence in the administration of the Strip.