About 80 members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad were released from an Egyptian jail on Oct. 17. Some had been detained without trial, and others had been sentenced by a Cairo state security court to lengthy jail terms for membership in a terror organization and threatening Egypt’s national security.
The release followed an Oct. 14 meeting between senior Islamic Jihad officials, led by the organization’s head, Ziad Nahala, and senior Egyptian intelligence officials. Nahala, who arrived in Cairo from Beirut, was joined by leaders of Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, from Gaza, including the commander of the northern division, Bahaa Abu el-Atta, whom Israel considers a serial troublemaker. These were not the first talks between an Islamic Jihad delegation and heads of Egyptian intelligence, but in the past, they had always been joined by Hamas representatives summoned to Cairo to discuss cease-fire agreements with Israel. This was the first time that they were called to Cairo alone to resolve issues between Egypt and their organization, which is supported by Iran.
Presumably, Nahala reported on the meeting to his sponsors in Tehran, conveying to them any promises made or reached in Cairo. Nonetheless, with Gaza surrounded by Israel and Egypt, even a radical, fundamentalist organization dedicated to establishing a Muslim state throughout Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, has to compromise and adapt its ideals to existing situations. In this regard, the group's current needs require that it not only heed Iran, which has been funded and sustained the organization for more than four decades, but it must also follow Egypt’s instruction.
According to Al-Araby al-Jadid, the Cairo talks focused on Islamic Jihad’s links with Iran and a long-term deal with Israel. The report went on to say that the meeting had been postponed for more than a month because Egypt had conditioned it on complete peace and quiet being restored on the Gaza front and on proof that the organization was not undermining implementation of the Israeli-Hamas understandings that Egypt mediated with great effort to ease the blockade against Gaza and reduce violence.
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