Member of Fatah Central Committee Azzam al-Ahmad said his movement would submit, next week in Cairo, a comprehensive response to the Egyptian draft proposal on inter-Palestinian reconciliation.
In an interview with the official Palestinian television channel, Ahmad noted that Fatah would not hold any direct talks with the “Hamas” delegation, but would only meet with the concerned Egyptian officials.
“We are tired of frequent meetings and talks. We have told Egyptian officials that we don’t want to meet with Hamas at the present time (…) We don’t want talks, agreements and new sponsors, but only the implementation of what has been agreed upon,” he said.
“If Hamas agrees, Egypt will convene a press conference to announce the resumption of the implementation of the reconciliation agreement,” he added.
Ahmad quoted Egyptian Intelligence Chief Major General Abbas Kamel as telling him that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was following up on the file and that he did not want reports about meetings with Fatah or “Hamas” or details about what happened. He told him that he wanted a report of no more than two lines, including one detail: “The following has been accomplished on the ground.”
The Fatah official did not report the details of the Egyptian proposal, but stressed that it do not carry a new addition to the old agreement. He noted that he expressed his opinion immediately on some of its points.
“This is a draft...and we will give a positive response,” he said. But he explained that the positive response did not mean agreeing on what was proposed.
The latest Egyptian ideas are based on the recent reconciliation agreement, through a gradual implementation, but with changes represented by an agreement to form a new national unity government that will handle the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and that will agree on clear and binding solutions to the problem of financial collection and the case of former “Hamas” government employees.
But the proposal did not include clear solutions to other issues, such as how to control Hamas’ security and judicial bodies and the fate of “Hamas” militants.
Sources in Fatah told Asharq Al-Awsat that the movement would refuse to link measures taken by the Palestinian Authority against Gaza with the reconciliation file.
They stressed that such decision belonged solely to President Mahmoud Abbas and PA officials and should not be a condition for reconciliation.
