GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Seeking to unify Gaza Strip factions on their truce with Israel, Egypt hosted leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad earlier this month in Cairo.
The Dec. 3 meeting was chaired by Hamas political bureau head Ismail Haniyeh and his Islamic Jihad counterpart, Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhalah. The men discussed a number of issues, most notably the Egypt-sponsored truce understandings signed between the Palestinian resistance and Israel in late March.
Following the meeting — which dragged on for more than five hours — the two movements said they will continue to coordinate closely and further develop joint operations. They stressed that their strategic relations are tantamount to a sustained alliance.
They also claimed to have overcome all attempts to sow discord among the movements’ members, which they said is what caused Hamas to refrain from participating in the Nov. 12-13 military confrontation that ignited between the Islamic Jihad and Israel. (Some observers, however, have speculated that Hamas sat out the fight to score points with Israel.) The fighting, in which 34 Palestinians were killed, erupted after Israel assassinated Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu al-Atta and his wife, and in a separate attack that day, killed a son of Islamic Jihad leader Akram al-Ajouri.
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