No concrete dates for the next intra-Palestinian meeting in Cairo have been set yet, Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2019) No concrete dates for the next intra-Palestinian meeting in Cairo have been set yet, Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Sputnik.Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, the deputy chief of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement said Wednesday that the next meeting in Cairo could take place within two weeks.
"Not yet," Shaath said, when asked if the dates for the next meeting had been decided yet.
He added that the parties to the talks had appreciated the opportunity to have an intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow.
"I know that the Fatah, Hamas, [Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine] Jihad, [Palestine Liberation Organization] PLO organizations, and Egypt were happy to have the meeting in Moscow to support the continuation of the will to negotiate, but they are all going back to Egypt. Egypt is ready, and they are all ready. Our Russian friends here supported their continuation. There is no attempt to replace Egypt, but to give them more energy to continue negotiations, and they will," Shaath said.
An intra-Palestinian meeting was held in Moscow last week, with a focus on the resolution of the long-standing divide among various Palestinian forces.
In 2005, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) a governing body for both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank took control of both enclaves. But the unity within the Palestinian Authority did not last long and a conflict erupted between Fatah and Hamas in 2006, resulting in the split of the authority and Hamas taking over the Gaza Strip. The West Bank is still controlled by Fatah. In 2017, Fatah and Hamas signed an Egypt-brokered agreement to put Gaza back under the PNA's control, but the deal has not been implemented so far.
