Source: Fatah invites Hamas to open-agenda Palestinian dialogue in Cairo

Fatah has formally invited Hamas to participate in a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue in Cairo with an open agenda covering political, institutional and organisational issues, an informed Palestinian source told Quds Press on Monday.

According to the source, the invitation was conveyed by Jibril Rajoub, secretary-general of Fatah’s Central Committee, who expressed the movement’s readiness to discuss a broad range of issues without limiting the talks to a single dispute or political file.

The proposed discussions would include internal Palestinian political issues, relations involving the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), mechanisms for broader national participation and proposals for rebuilding Palestinian political institutions, the source said.

The source said Fatah’s proposed delegation would be headed by Rajoub and include Central Committee members Majed Faraj, Mohammad Shtayyeh, Ahmed Abu Houli and Zakaria Zubeidi.

Hamas has begun internal consultations on the invitation and the proposed format for the talks before deciding whether to participate, according to the source. Hamas had not publicly confirmed its response to the invitation at the time of the report.

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The reported invitation follows a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee on Saturday, during which the movement agreed to accept an Egyptian invitation to participate in a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue in Cairo.

Fatah also decided at the meeting to form a delegation headed by Rajoub and including Faraj, Shtayyeh, Abu Houli and Zubeidi to represent the movement in the proposed talks.

The initiative comes amid renewed efforts to address longstanding divisions between Fatah and Hamas, as Palestinian factions face questions over upcoming elections, the future of Palestinian political institutions and governance arrangements.

Previous rounds of reconciliation talks between the rival movements, including several hosted by Egypt, have produced agreements on elections, governance and institutional reform, but have repeatedly failed to secure a lasting resolution of the divisions that have shaped Palestinian politics since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

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