On Sept. 17, Hamas announced it was dissolving the administrative committee it had set up in March to manage the Gaza Strip.

A delegation from Hamas’ political leadership, presided by Ismail Haniyeh, the head of its political bureau, visited Egypt Sept. 9-19 to discuss with the Egyptian intelligence the internal Palestinian reconciliation, the opening of the Rafah border crossing and the security situation on the Gaza-Sinai borders.

The Hamas movement said in a press statement Sept. 17 that the dissolution of the committee comes in response to Egypt’s efforts to achieve reconciliation and end the Hamas-Fatah division. The movement expressed willingness to discuss with Fatah the mechanisms for implementing reconciliation and forming a national unity government. Hamas also called on the government of national consensus to immediately head to Gaza to fulfill its duties.

Osama Hamdan, Hamas’ foreign relations chief, told Al-Monitor, “The threefold importance of dissolving the administrative committee lies in the fact that the decision came from Hamas directly and in the context of the national public interest of the Palestinian people, in light of an improved political atmosphere between Hamas and Egypt. Dissolving the committee was part of the initiative Hamas presented to the Egyptians in order to achieve reconciliation. Today, President Mahmoud Abbas is required to respond to Hamas' move. If he denies it and refuses to proceed with reconciliation, he will be the first and biggest loser, but I am optimistic that reconciliation will be achieved.”