Hamas Delegation in Cairo to Discuss Palestinian Files

Hamas Delegation in Cairo to Discuss Palestinian Files
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Hamas Delegation in Cairo to Discuss Palestinian Files

Hamas Delegation in Cairo to Discuss Palestinian Files

A senior delegation from Hamas Politburo arrived in Cairo on Wednesday upon an invitation from Egyptian intelligence officials who are seeking to resolve pending Palestinian files.

The delegation is led by Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas Politburo, who came from abroad along with Moussa Abu Marzouq, Hussam Badran and Izzat al-Rashq. Two officials – Khalil al-Hayya and Rouhi Moshtaha – came from the Gaza Strip. The head of the movement in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, could not join the delegation for health reasons.

Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for the movement, said in a press statement that the delegation would discuss with the Egyptian officials bilateral relations and developments in the Palestinian and Arab affairs.

The movement’s Politburo has held important meetings over the past few days, through safe means of communication between its members, in Gaza and Turkey simultaneously.

In a statement on Tuesday, the movement said it had decided to accept the Egyptian invitation for dialogue, underlining its willingness to achieve national reconciliation and unity on the basis of partnership in the resistance and the decision-making.

“The optimal condition for achieving this reconciliation is to immediately lift unjust sanctions on the Gaza Strip and to rebuild the PLO through a new national unity council, according to the Beirut 2017 outputs and the comprehensive implementation of the Cairo Agreement of 2011,” the statement said.

Sources in Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat that the delegation would confirm to the Egyptian side that based on its “positive initiative”, it has facilitated many measures to allow the government to assume its duties in Gaza Strip.

The sources added that the movement would stress that it was not responsible for the assassination attempt against Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah during his visit to Gaza on March 13.

The delegation will also express to Cairo its dissatisfaction with the attitude of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority for blaming the movement for the incident, noting that investigations conducted by Hamas have shown that the attack was perpetrated by militants with extremist ideology, who were recruited by members of the Palestinian and Israeli intelligence.

Other sources in Hamas said that the delegation would discuss in Cairo the need to resolve crises in Gaza and alleviate the humanitarian situation there.Hamas and Fatah leaders shake hands following the signing of a reconciliation deal at the Egyptian intelligence services headquarters in Cairo in October 2017. (AFP)



US Says It’s Aware of Palestinian American Teen’s Killing by Israeli Forces in West Bank 

Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
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US Says It’s Aware of Palestinian American Teen’s Killing by Israeli Forces in West Bank 

Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)

The US State Department said on Tuesday it was aware of the killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian American teenager in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and was seeking more information about the incident.

A State Department spokesperson made the comments to reporters when asked about the killing of US citizen Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, and the shooting of two other teenagers.

"We are certainly aware of that dynamic," the State Department spokesperson said. "There is an investigation that is going on. We are aware of the reports from the Israeli army that this was a counterterrorism act, we need to learn more about the nature of what happened on the ground."

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the weekend incident as an "extra-judicial killing" by Israeli forces during a raid. A local mayor said Rabea was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler and that the Israeli army pronounced him dead after detaining him.

The Israeli military said it shot a "terrorist" who endangered civilians by hurling rocks.

"We don't have the complete picture of what was going on the ground," the State Department spokesperson added.

The family of the teenager, who was a New Jersey native, said he was shot multiple times. Local community leaders gathered at the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey, on Tuesday to pay tribute to him and demand justice.

Israel has expanded and consolidated settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the state of Israel in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said last month.

Settler violence in the West Bank, including incursions into occupied territory and raids, has intensified since the start of Israel's war in Gaza that has killed over 50,000, according to Gaza's health ministry, and led to genocide and war crimes accusations that Israel denies.

The Israeli onslaught in Gaza followed a Hamas attack in October 2023 in which 1,200 were killed and about 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.