Hamas, Fatah said to agree to set up technocratic administration for postwar Gaza governance

A round of talks between Hamas and Fatah officials in Cairo has yielded an agreement to establish a technocratic committee composed of independent Palestinian figures to manage the Gaza Strip after the ongoing war, according to an unnamed Hamas source quoted by the Qatari-owned paper Al-Araby al-Jadeed.

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

According to the Qatari paper, the Hamas delegation presented a detailed work plan for the technocratic committee, while the Fatah delegation requested a discussion of its central management, which will reportedly be done in follow-up meetings.

Today, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to sit down with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo to discuss ways to end the war in Gaza and the future Palestinian governance. A Hamas delegation led by top official Khalil al-Hayya reportedly met with the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate yesterday but did not achieve any progress on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Al-Araby al-Jadeed writes that the Hamas delegation included new officials who had never participated in such talks before, in order to create “new opportunities for future discussions.” The terror movement’s main demand was for Egypt to exert pressure on Israel to stop ongoing military operations in the northern Gaza Strip, the paper reports.