Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the executive committee of the PLO and the central committee of the Fatah movement, has said that President Mahmoud Abbas will invite the general secretaries of the factions to attend an emergency meeting in Cairo.
The Palestinian leadership chose Egypt as a location for the meeting to bring all factions together, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat in remarks published Friday that all Palestinian factions will be invited, saying Abbas would attend the meeting as “the president of the Palestinian people.”
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziyad Abu Amr had previously confirmed Egypt’s approval to host a meeting of the secretaries-general of the Palestinian factions.
He added that the meeting was aimed at “agreeing on a comprehensive national vision and uniting the Palestinian ranks.”
The Palestinian official also stressed “the importance of the role played by the brotherly Arab Republic of Egypt in defending the rights of the Palestinian people.”
The Palestinian factions, including Hamas, did not immediately comment on the invitation, which would be sent in light of differences that emerged in the West Bank between the Fatah and Hamas movements, after mourners attacked members of the Fatah Central Committee in the Jenin cemetery on Wednesday.
Videos spread on social media showed mourners interrupting a speech by Abbas’ deputy, Mahmoud Al-Aloul, before the situation became tense and some chanted for the expulsion of Palestinian officials.
Israeli newspapers headlined that the Palestinians in Jenin had expelled Abbas’ deputy. Fatah accused Hamas of being behind the incident, which caused widespread tension and controversy that spread to social media, before gunmen from Fatah in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, forced the owners of Hamas shops to close their businesses.
Al-Ahmad told Voice of Palestine radio on Thursday that the leadership of the Hamas movement has launched a campaign to stop the meeting from taking place. He described the incident at the Jenin camp as being “consistent with [Hamas’] approach of betrayal and shedding Palestinian blood.”
On Thursday, the Fatah Central Committee issued a statement, saying that it would “not allow those with external agendas to tamper with the unity of our people, and will not hesitate to cut off the roots of sedition.”
