Abbas, Sissi meet in Cairo amid likely Gaza shakeup

The leaders of Egypt and the Palestinian Authority are meeting today amid signs of a rapprochement between Cairo and the Hamas terrorist group that could shake up Gaza’s political landscape and sideline the PA president.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi are holding talks in the Egyptian capital.

Officials close to Abbas say the PA leader had requested the meeting to seek clarifications on what appears to be an emerging power-sharing agreement between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and an exiled Abbas rival, former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan.

Under the deal — parts of which have been confirmed by other parties involved — Hamas would retain control over Gaza’s security, while Dahlan would eventually return to Gaza and handle its foreign relations.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

–with AP