GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza could be getting a status upgrade to become an embassy headquarters for Egypt, though Egyptian officials declined to comment on media reports to that effect.

According to the reports, Egypt has threatened Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with moving the Egyptian Embassy to Gaza from the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. The news comes from the Fateh Voice website, among other media outlets with ties to Mohammed Dahlan, who was dismissed in 2011 as leader of the Fatah nationalist political party after a split with Abbas.

Egypt and the other members of the Arab Quartet (Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) have been pressuring Abbas to reconcile with Dahlan, who might then succeed the 81-year-old Abbas. Not only did Abbas not comply, he opened Fatah’s seventh congress Nov. 29 while completely excluding Dahlan and his supporters. Abbas was re-elected to lead Fatah for a five-year term.

Media reports about the embassy were preceded on Nov. 21 by Egypt's temporary opening of its consulate west of Gaza City — for the first time since its closure in 2007 after Hamas’ takeover of Gaza — for cleanup and renovation. The move added to speculation about the potential official reopening of the consulate, which would ease the movement of Palestinians through the Rafah crossing and facilitate relations with the Egyptian community in Gaza.