GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — There has been speculation that Egypt has given up on mediating a reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank, but so far Egypt hasn't said it will throw in the towel.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziyad al-Nakhaleh told Al-Mayadeen May 7, “Egypt will no longer oversee the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.” Nakhaleh arrived in Cairo May 3 upon invitation from Egypt to meet with intelligence officials to discuss the Palestinian political situation.

Nakhaleh added in the interview that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is determined “to strip the resistance of its weapons and consider the Palestinian resistance movements militias. Abbas said he will not return to Gaza as long as there are weapons,” a situation Abbas doesn't expect to happen, Nakhaleh said.

A high-ranking source in the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, which is trying to mediate a Palestinian reconciliation, told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The reconciliation has reached a dead end, but Egypt has not made a decision to end its mediation.” The source added, “Still, Egypt is upset that its previous efforts on the reconciliation issue have failed. To add insult to injury, Fatah took a sudden and unilateral step to form a new government without a national consensus.”