Hamas delegation in Cairo for talks

A 12-member Palestinian delegation from the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip yesterday travelled through the Rafah crossing to Cairo to discuss mutual relations with Egyptian officials, Quds Press reported.

Information Director at the Rafah Crossing, Wael Abu-Omar, told the news site that the delegation represented various ministries in Gaza who aimed “to discuss mechanisms to implement the recent understandings between Hamas and Egypt.”

The delegation, Abu-Omar said, includes representatives from the ministries of interior, finance, works, economy and the energy authority.

Secretary-General of the Government Administrative Committee in Gaza, Osama Saad, said that the delegation is to discuss issues related to border security, the Rafah crossing, the electricity crisis, fuel and other matters.

Read: Egypt allows diesel into Gaza

Last month, a senior Hamas delegation visited Cairo, met representatives of the Egyptian leadership, discussed several issues and reached understandings related to easing the siege on the Gaza Strip.

#GazaSiege

As part of the understandings, the Egyptian authorities began to supply diesel to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing in order to run the enclave’s sole electricity plant.

Israel has imposed a strict siege on Gaza since mid-2007 and Egypt tightened this siege when it completely closed the Rafah crossing after the first freely-elected Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted in a military coup in 2013.