Egypt has invited the Palestinian factions to hold a comprehensive dialogue in Cairo on Saturday to discuss internal reconciliation, cease-fire, and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
A source at the Palestinian Authority (PA) told Asharq Al-Awsat that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ready to form an immediate national unity government to unify Palestinian institutions and begin reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.
The source stressed that the president is ready to hold general elections as soon as Israel allows the polls in Jerusalem.
He indicated that forming a unity government is a priority for the Fatah delegation, which will visit Cairo on Saturday and hold discussions with Egyptian officials, the Hamas delegation, and other factions.
Fatah delegation, which will be headed by Jibril Rajoub, is supposed to hold bilateral meetings with Egyptian officials, Hamas leaders, and the rest of the factions.
Egyptian officials will meet with Fatah and Hamas leaders as well, and then with the rest of the factions in an intensification of the efforts led by Cairo and backed by the US, EU, and the UN.
The international community wants to ensure that any aid sent to reconstruct Gaza will be handled by the PA and not Hamas, within an international mechanism, in preparation for understandings that guarantee a long-term truce in the Strip.
However, Hamas' insistence on organizing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) complicates the efforts.
The source said that this issue needs reconciliation first, elections, and arrangements.
Hamas' politburo member Khalil al-Haya said on Monday that the PLO must be rearranged, pointing out that Palestinians in all territories and diaspora were united during the last battle against Israel, “and it must remain that way."
Hayya stressed that “resistance in the face of the occupation in all its forms is the way to unite our people,” calling for the consolidation of unity.
“We want to be together in the face of the occupation, but on a single national vision that we agree on,” said Hayya, calling for strong leadership.
Hayya echoed an earlier statement by Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya al-Sinwar, in which he called for organizing the PLO, stressing that without Hamas and the Islamic Jihad and the rest of the factions, "PLO has no value.”
