GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The visit paid by the Ramallah-based ministers of the Palestinian Authority (PA), including Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, to Gaza on Oct. 2 gave Gaza residents hope that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would also pay Gaza a visit amid media reports that he would take such a step once the PA is in full control there. Abbas was last in Gaza in May 2007, shortly before Hamas seized full control of the enclave in June 2007.
Palestinians in the media have been increasingly calling on Abbas to travel to Gaza and lift the sanctions that he imposed in early April to pressure Hamas into relinquishing control over the territory. On Oct. 3, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political bureau chief, called on Abbas to visit to formally put an end to the Palestinian division. On Oct. 12, senior Fatah leader Zakaria al-Agha said such a visit is coming soon. Agha, who is based in Gaza, told Agence France-Presse that Abbas “will be in Gaza within less than a month,” but did not provide further details.
Ahmad al-Majdalani, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee and a close associate of Abbas, told Al-Monitor that Abbas would certainly visit Gaza to exercise his duties as president of the Palestinian people, especially in view of the positive climate that followed the PA ministers' visit. Majdalani said that Abbas had held a meeting of Fatah’s Central Committee on Oct. 5 to assess a trip to Gaza, which the president praised, and to prepare for a Fatah-Hamas meeting scheduled for Oct. 10 in Cairo.
A Hamas delegation led by Saleh al-Arouri, Haniyeh's deputy, and a Fatah delegation led by Azzam al-Ahmad indeed met at the headquarters of Egyptian intelligence to discuss details of a reconciliation agreement and how the consensus government would work in Gaza. The delegations also touched on the issue of Gaza residents hired as government workers by Hamas in 2007 and about the 2011 Cairo reconciliation agreement being the basis of ongoing and future discussions. The sides are expected to continue meeting through Oct. 12. No information has been released on the details of the talks.
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