Hamas expects to meet Egyptian officials 'soon'

A senior Hamas official in Gaza has revealed that the movement expects to meet with Egyptian officials in Cairo “soon”. Mahmoud Al-Zahar suggested that the meeting might follow the current visit to the Egyptian capital by a high-level delegation from Islamic Jihad.

According to Al-Zahar, the success of Islamic Jihad’s visit to Cairo will have a positive impact on relations between Hamas and Egypt. He pointed out that there has been a degree of rapprochement between the two sides in the past few months.

The movement plans to discuss all major current issues with the Egyptians, including mutual relations and the internal Palestinian reconciliation. Egypt, said Al-Zahar, is a pivotal state for the Arab crises.

The Hamas official added that the Gaza Strip is ready for commercial links with Egypt. The improvement in movement through the Rafah Border Crossing is proof, he claimed, of the new Egyptian vision towards Gaza.

On issues of political legitimacy, Al-Zahar told an audience in Gaza that all current political appointments are invalid and must be renewed through free and fair elections. Islamic Jihad’s ten-point initiative calls for cancelling Oslo which, he noted, actually represents the position of all resistance movements.

Internal reconciliation, said Al-Zahar, does not mean merging the resistance programme with the concessions programme. Resistance, he asserted, is still the best way to liberate Palestine.

In closing, Al-Zahar denied news reports about rapprochement between Hamas and disgraced Fatah official Mohamed Dahlan; there are no relations with him, he said. However, he insisted that his movement is ready to forge relations with any side based on his programme as long as it is in line with Palestinian national goals.