Multiple Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, recently met in Egypt to discuss cooperation.
A Palestinian official spoke to Arabic media in the UAE to discuss a recent meeting of Palestinian factions in Cairo.
The interview with Al-Ain is significant as it may reveal what Palestinian groups want for the day after in Gaza. This will be an uphill struggle because Gaza is in ruins, and Hamas will want to cling on behind the scenes. In addition, Israel doesn’t want the Palestinian Authority to have a role in Gaza. Israel has also backed armed militias.
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Nevertheless, let’s learn what we can from the piece. “As eyes await the end of the Israeli war on Gaza, a new phase of political action, led by Cairo, is looming on the horizon to shape the ‘day after’ in the Strip.” The Palestinian groups understand that the post-war period “will not resemble the pre-war period…in this context, a Palestinian official revealed to Al-Ain News that a meeting of Palestinian factions is expected to take place in the Egyptian capital to discuss the future of Gaza.”
PLO involvement in talks
Wasil Abu Yousef, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee and Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Front, said that Egypt will host a meeting of Palestinian factions and discuss "arrangements for the next day in Gaza.”
Wasel Abu Yousef has led the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) since 2007. He was elected to the PLO Executive Committee in 2018. He was born in Hebron in 1953 and was previously a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), according to a website that profiles Palestinian politicians. “During the Second Intifada, he was involved with the National and Islamic Forces (NIF),” the site ECFR notes.
Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) stand guard during a parade marking the annual al-Quds Day, (Jerusalem Day), at Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon April 14, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED AZAKIR)
Abu Yousef indicated that the upcoming meeting in Cairo will include all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Egypt is the most acceptable country for all the groups involved Egypt has sought to mediate between Hamas and Fatah, which leads the PA, in the past.
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The meetings in Cairo will address the future of Gaza, requirements for reconstruction and also a way to “save the Palestinian people by accelerating the entry of urgent relief and humanitarian aid, lifting the siege, and beginning the reconstruction process. These tasks require unifying ranks and putting the Palestinian house in order.”
He added that the goal is to affirm that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The official noted that the US has objected to the displacement of Palestinians. Some extremist officials in Israel have advocated expelling Palestinians or encouraging them to leave.
The report also mentions Dr. Samir Ghattas, President of the Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies, told Al-Ain News that "Cairo will seek to reunite Palestinian factions to ease divisions after a difficult period of internal disagreements." He noted that regional leaders of Arab and Muslim countries have agreed to Trump’s plan and also the establishment of an “international oversight body for the Gaza Strip (GITA) during the transitional period. Palestinian factions will not be part of this body, and Hamas will have no role in it."
US President Donald Trump has spoken about a Board of Peace that would include prominent figures such as Tony Blair.
Donald Trump's peace plan
Last Monday evening, US President Donald Trump presented his plan to end the two-year-old war in the Gaza Strip, speaking of the establishment of an international oversight body known as the "Peace Council," which would include prominent figures and world leaders, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. ABC news in Australia recently noted that “a leaked document has revealed a possible structure for the so-called "Gaza International Transitional Authority" (GITA) which could take temporary control of the strip once the war ends.” GITA will be administered by a multilateral international council.
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Ghattas discussed the possibility that the upcoming meeting would yield tangible results, according to the report. Egypt has said it will “host delegations from Israel and Hamas on October 6 to discuss the conditions” of the Trump plan. “The goal is to end the war in Gaza and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, which has lasted for two consecutive years,” Cairo says. The goal is to build up regional momentum. Meanwhile, a Hamas leader revealed to Agence France-Presse that Egypt "will soon begin preparations and invitations to host and sponsor a comprehensive Palestinian dialogue on national unity and the future of Gaza, including the administration of the Strip through an independent committee or body of experts to manage the interim period until authority is unified across all Palestinian territories.”
Overall, the report al Al-Ain leaves many questions open about what comes next. Nevertheless, it shows that Cairo and the Palestinian factions are moving fast to see how they can work together. The last time Palestinian factions met so publicly was in China in July 2024 when 14 factions met.
The 14 factions included Fatah, Hamas, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Palestinian People's Party, Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), Palestinian Democratic Union, Palestinian Liberation Front, Arab Liberation Front, Palestinian Arab Front and Vanguard for the Popular Liberation War - Lightning Forces. It is not clear how many of these are going to Cairo this week.
[SRC] https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/palestinian-official-reveals-cairo-discussions-195001127.html
