Egypt: Fatah, Hamas meeting in Cairo to reach ‘mutual understanding’ on PA control in post-war Gaza

Delegations from the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas are meeting in Cairo to “reach a mutual understanding” on the Palestinian Authority’s management of the Gaza Strip after the end of Hamas’s war with Israel, Egypt’s foreign minister tells reporters.

“There are indeed two delegations from the Fatah and Hamas movements in Cairo consulting and deliberating to quickly reach a mutual understanding regarding the management of daily affairs in the Gaza Strip under the full control of the Palestinian Authority,” Badr Abdelatty tells a news conference in Cairo.

The talks are part of Egypt’s broader mediation efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terror group and to expand humanitarian access to the enclave.

Israel rejects any role by Hamas in Gaza after the war is ended and has said it does not trust the rival Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas to run the enclave.

Mediators, including Egypt, Qatar and the United States, have so far failed to secure a truce that would end the war and facilitate a release of Israeli and foreign hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel for crimes that include terror offenses.