Islamic Jihad concludes talks with Egypt

Egypt’s deal with Hamas to help the Gaza Strip has no political dimension and is solely a humanitarian effort, the head of Islamic Jihad’s media office, Daoud Shihab, told Quds Press.

A delegation from the organisation completed a four-day official trip to Egypt on Monday.

Secretary-General, Ramadan Shallah, and his deputy, Ziad Al-Nakhla, were both part of the team that represented the organisation, Shihab said.

“During the visit, the Egyptian leadership briefed the delegation on the understandings reached with the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and confirmed that it is in the process of providing more ways to ease the pressure on the people of the Gaza Strip,” Shihab said.

The Egyptian leadership also confirmed that there are no political dimensions to its understandings with Hamas and that its actions are purely humanitarian to support the people of Gaza, refuting media reports of a plan to separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip.

Read: Islamic Jihad delegation in Egypt for talks

“The Egyptian leadership stressed that the measures will not substitute the Palestinian-Palestinian reconciliation and that they are interested in reconciliation efforts,” he added.

A delegation from Islamic Jihad began an official visit to Egypt on Friday, the second of its kind in four months.

A senior Hamas delegation held talks with Egyptian officials in June on several issues, including the easing of the siege on Gaza Strip and the introduction of necessary material through the Rafah border crossing and operating it commercially and for travellers.

Following the meetings, Egypt allowed diesel into the Strip for the first time to allow Gaza’s sole electricity plant to operate.