Hamas Delegation Heads to Cairo for ‘Exploratory’ Meetings

Protesters wave the Palestinian flag during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border fence east of Gaza City on December 15, 2017. (AFP)
Protesters wave the Palestinian flag during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border fence east of Gaza City on December 15, 2017. (AFP)
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Hamas Delegation Heads to Cairo for ‘Exploratory’ Meetings

Protesters wave the Palestinian flag during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border fence east of Gaza City on December 15, 2017. (AFP)
Protesters wave the Palestinian flag during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border fence east of Gaza City on December 15, 2017. (AFP)

A Hamas delegation is scheduled to arrive in Cairo mid-September to meet with Egyptian officials for further talks on pending issues, an official from the Palestinian movement official said on Sunday.

Hamas politburo member Maher Obeid said that the meetings will tackle various Palestinian files, especially reconciliation and a ceasefire with Israel.

Delegations from the Popular and Democratic fronts are expected to arrive for periodic meetings with Egyptian officials after efforts, especially peace negotiations, failed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been accused of hindering the efforts.

Hamas has escalated its actions against Israel prior to the arrival of its delegation to Egypt and plans to revive popular rallies along the Gaza-Israel border, including the possibility of relaunching incendiary kites.

These acts aim at shedding light on the deteriorating situation in Gaza and serve as a strong protest message following the end of truce talks.

“Hamas believes that mediators will once again take action if Israel comes under pressure,” Asharq Al-Awsat had earlier quoted the movement as saying.

Obeid stressed that "if the masses of our people stepped up the march of return and put new pressure on the occupation, then truce will be achieved and Israel will pay for its actions."

“The fate of the peaceful return marches, especially after freezing the truce talks, depends on the movement of the Palestinian masses,” Obeid told the local Palestinian al-Istiqlal newspaper.

“Truce efforts have not completely stopped, but they are witnessing a state of laxity and change in the priorities of the parties, so that their priority will be to start reconciliation and then to address to other matters, led by the PA,” he added.

“However, it seems that our people will head towards escalation ... in order to achieve the desired goals,” Obeid stressed.

Egypt-sponsored truce talks between Palestinian factions and Israel last month were halted after Abbas's threats that he would not allow a truce in the Gaza Strip since it will help separate the enclave from the West Bank and lead the way for the adoption of the so-called “Deal of the Century”.



Iraqi MP Faces Charges of ‘Insulting’ PMF after Calling for Merging them with Security Forces 

A member of the PMF guards a gate with a mural of slain PMF deputy leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad. (AFP)
A member of the PMF guards a gate with a mural of slain PMF deputy leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad. (AFP)
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Iraqi MP Faces Charges of ‘Insulting’ PMF after Calling for Merging them with Security Forces 

A member of the PMF guards a gate with a mural of slain PMF deputy leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad. (AFP)
A member of the PMF guards a gate with a mural of slain PMF deputy leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad. (AFP)

Independent Iraqi MP and lawyer Sajjad Salem is facing charges of “insulting” the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces in wake of statements he made last week demanding the merger of the armed organization with the security forces.

A court in Salem’s native Waset province demanded that parliament lift the immunity of the MP so that he could appear before the judiciary.

If convicted, he could face imprisonment of no more than a year and a fine.

Salem told Asharq Al-Awsat that the complaint actually dates back to 2022 and it seems the PMF has opened the file again.

“I am not afraid,” he declared. “The PMF has actually filed some 2,000 complaints against me in recent years.”

“I will head to court and defend myself. I have a lot of lawsuits to file against them, especially against some of their figures and media platforms that have committed slander against me and my family,” he added.

Speaking last week during a commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the eruption of anti-government protests in 2019, Salem called for incorporating the PMF with the security forces.

He also held Shiite forces responsible for the killing and injury some 1,000 protesters during the 2019 demonstrations.

“The killing of the protesters was driven by political forces that incited against the rallies. I take full responsibility for my statements. Political Shiite Islam is behind the bloodshed,” he said.

He explained that merging the PMF with the security forces would prevent Iran from exercising its influence through the leaders of PMF factions and militias.

Salem was one of the most prominent figures of the anti-government protests and a vocal critic of the factions that were involved in cracking down on the rallies.

He has also heavily criticized Iraqi authorities for failing to bring the perpetrators to justice despite the evidence against them.

Head of the Sadrist movement cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had previously made a similar demand on merging the PMF with the security forces.

In August 2017, he told protesters in Baghdad that incorporating it with the security forces would bring the PMF strictly under state control.