 "Hamas & Fatah hold talks in Egypt on next steps for Gaza ceasefire")
Hamas and Fatah on Thursday held talks in Egyptian capital Cairo about the next phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an informed source told AFP.
Fatah is the main Palestinian political party that controls both the Palestinian Authority (PA), the de facto Palestinian government in West Bank, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people.
The source said, “The meeting discussed the current situation and issues related to the second phase of the proposed ceasefire in Gaza.”
The source said that Hamas and Fatah agreed to “continue meetings in the coming period and to work on organising the Palestinian internal front in the face of the challenges posed by the Israeli government”.
Separately, Egyptian state-linked Al-Qahera News reported that the Hamas-Fatah talks covered “the national scene in general and arrangements after ending the war in the Gaza Strip”.
Egypt leads efforts for consensus among Palestinian factions about Gaza deal
The meeting between Hamas and Fatah —longstanding rivals— is understood to be part of broader Egypt-led efforts to build consensus among various Palestinian factions regarding the Gaza deal brokered by US President Donald Trump.
In addition to the Hamas-Fatah talks, Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad met senior officials from key Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), according to AFP.
While the PIJ is a terrorist group allied with Hamas and was involved in the October 7 attack on Israel, the DFLP and PFLP are part of the PLO. However, as the DFLP and PFLP have not renounced armed struggle and continue to maintain armed wings, their membership in the PLO remains contentious. This has led to criticism from Israel and other members of the international community, who question the legitimacy of being part of the PLO while refusing to formally lay down arms.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThere have also been reports that armed cadres from the PFLP and DFLP participated in the October 7 attack and the subsequent war in Gaza, in alliance with Hamas.
Al-Qahera News reported that these talks were part of Egyptian efforts to “achieve national Palestinian consensus on the implementation of the US president’s ceasefire plan in Gaza”.
Under Trump’s plan for Gaza, Hamas would be required to disarm, renounce armed struggle, and relinquish its hold on power in the Strip. The plan proposes that while governance in Gaza will eventually be handed over to the PA, an internationally supervised technocratic administration will manage the territory in the interim, with an ‘international stabilisation force’ overseeing security.
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