The head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Major General Abbas Mustafa Kamel met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday and conveyed two letters to him.
The first on the Gaza Strip and the second on the so-called “deal of the century”, well-informed Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The sources confirmed that Kamel gave Abbas Egyptian guarantees to hand over Gaza fully to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and demanded a short time to implement the process.
The Egyptian official also stressed that great efforts were exerted to amend the US “deal of the century” to become acceptable for Palestinians and Arabs.
The secret deal, which is spearheaded by the US, calls for ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but disregards the two-state solution. Details of the deal, which has not been officially announced, have been leaked by various media.
According to the Palestinian sources, Egypt, in agreement with Saudi Arabia, was looking forward to achieving full coordination with the PA and was working towards the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, regardless of Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The PA’s relationship with the US deteriorated after Trump’s Jerusalem announcement in December. Abbas said that Washington had disqualified itself as a viable partner in the peace process in wake of its decision.
He later called for an international peace conference to produce an international multilateral mechanism to foster a political peace process. European and Arab countries however informed him that progress could not be made without Washington.
The meeting between Abbas and Kamel touched on latest developments in the Palestinian territories, and Egyptian efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation.
Abbas hailed efforts exerted by Egypt under the leadership of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to reach the reconciliation and support the rights of the Palestinian people.
Egypt has been trying to ease tensions between the PA and Hamas in wake of the failed assassination attempt against Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah in Gaza in March. Abbas held Hamas, which controls the coastal enclave, responsible for the attack, further deepening divisions with the group.
Meanwhile, information was leaked about Egypt’s agreement with Hamas to hand over the Gaza Strip to the PA, with the establishment of a national committee to ensure that the movement’s weapons are not used against the Authority.
Hamdallah reiterated on Tuesday that there would be no reconciliation unless Gaza is handed over at once.
“We stress the position of the president and his assertion that the effective and comprehensive empowerment of the government and handing over all the security, legal, administrative and financial powers are the basis to achieve the highest national interest and the salvation of Gaza,” Hamdallah said, in a speech on the occasion of Land Day.
