Hamas Meets Qatar, Egypt Officials In Cairo To Discuss Gaza Ceasefire

A Hamas delegation was to meet Qatari and Egyptian officials in Cairo on Monday to discuss the continuation of a fragile Gaza ceasefire, a source close to negotiations told AFP.

The Israeli military struck dozens of Hamas positions across Gaza on Sunday after the militants killed two of its soldiers and Israel accused the group of "a blatant violation" of the truce. 

Hamas denied any knowledge of an attack and in turn asserted Israel had broken the ceasefire deal in place since October 10. 

The source said that the delegation, headed by Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, would discuss "the dozens of airstrikes that killed dozens in the Gaza Strip" on Sunday.

Egypt and Qatar have long played a mediating role in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, aiming to bring about an end to the war sparked by Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Hamas' delegation will also meet Egyptian officials to discuss an upcoming intra-Palestinian dialogue hosted by Egypt and aiming "to unify the Palestinian factions," the source told AFP.

Egypt has hosted several such meetings between Palestinian factions, notably including the two main rival political movements, Islamist movement Hamas and Fatah, whose leader Mahmud Abbas is also president of the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas and Fatah have been opposed for decades, all the more so since the former's violent ousting of the latter from the Gaza Strip in 2007.

"The dialogue aims to unify the Palestinian factions and discuss key issues, including the future of the Gaza Strip and the formation of the independent committee of experts that will assume management of the Strip," the source said.

Under the US-brokered ceasefire deal an independent transitional authority, run by technocrats, has been proposed to administer Gaza. 

Hamas said it did not wish to govern Gaza after two years of war, but its forces have moved back into areas from which Israel has withdrawn since the ceasefire.

Several Palestinian political officials recently raised the possibility of a group of unaffiliated Palestinian managers to run the Palestinian territory.

Another informed source told AFP that "mediators' contacts and efforts succeeded last night in restoring calm and implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza".

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