Haniyeh, Abbas arrive in Cairo ahead of factions meeting

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
29 Jul 2023 23:44
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Hamas says it would seek during the meeting to "unify the Palestinian position and agree on a unified national strategic plan to confront the occupation."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L), and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (R) at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey, on July 26, 2023 (AFP)

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, arrived on Saturday in El Alamein in Egypt, state-run Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, ahead of unity talks between Palestinian factions boycotted by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement.

The Palestinian news agency said that as well as chairing Sunday's meeting of the heads of Palestinian factions, Abbas "is scheduled to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi."

The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, also arrived in Egypt at the head of a delegation from the movement's leadership to participate in the meeting.

In a statement, Hamas said the meeting is being held "in light of the escalation of the Zionist aggression against our land, people and sanctities, especially the continuous storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."

Hamas said it would seek during the meeting to "unify the Palestinian position and agree on a unified national strategic plan to confront the occupation."

On Sunday, Egypt will host a Palestinian national meeting called for by Abbas and the leaders of the various factions to discuss the political and field situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in light of the escalation by the Israeli occupation government.

Last week, PIJ Secretary-General Ziad Al-Nakhalah made the movement's participation in the talks conditional on the release of its members and those of other factions detained by Palestinian Authority security forces in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement to AFP on Saturday, PIJ official Mohammad Al-Hindi again denounced "continued political detention and prosecution of the Resistance."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is also boycotting the talks.

Both Abbas and Haniyeh met in Ankara on Wednesday in the run-up to Sunday's meeting. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted the talks and said his government will do its best to push for intra-Palestinian reconciliation.

A Palestinian official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the talks aim to "end the divisions (between factions) in preparation for a unified Palestinian government and presidential and general elections."

Haniyeh's Spokesperson Taher Al-Nounou told AFP that Hamas sought to "unify the Palestinian position" under a strategic plan to "confront the Israeli occupation in light of the aggression of its extremist government."

On Wednesday, the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), Talal Naji, affirmed to Al Mayadeen that "the Front is against all arrests by the Palestinian Authority (PA)."

Naji stressed that the movement's decision to participate in the meeting is contingent on the participation of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), whose Deputy Secretary-General told Al Mayadeen on Tuesday that the Resistance group will boycott the meeting unless Resistance fighters arbitrarily detained by the PA on political charges are released.