Hamas proposes factional committee run Rafah crossing

Hamas has proposed a factional committee be set up to run the Rafah crossing, Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper reported yesterday.

According to the newspaper, this proposal came in the wake of the Palestinian Authority (PA) withdrawal from Gaza’s only access point to the world.

The proposal suggests the interior ministry in Gaza continue controlling the crossing until the factional committee is formed.

According to the newspaper, the proposal was offered through contacts between Hamas and Egypt over the past two days in an effort to tackle the issue of the internal Palestinian reconciliation and the truce with Israel.

READ: Palestinian factions discuss withdrawal of PA’s officers from Rafah crossing with Egypt

The newspaper added that Egypt and PA President Mahmoud Abbas disagreed on a number of issues with Cairo urging the Palestinian premier to stop the punitive measures imposed on the Gaza Strip, including the decision to withdraw his officers from Rafah crossing.

“The [Hamas-Egyptian] contacts concentrated on Abbas’ attempts to cause chaos in Gaza and clashes between Fatah members with the security services ahead of announcing Gaza a rebellious region,” Al-Akhbar reported a Hamas source saying.

It also claimed that a Hamas source said Abbas’ latest measures were coordinated with Cairo because they came in the wake of Abbas’ meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.