GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The visit of the Palestinian Ramallah-based government to Egypt on Oct. 7 raised questions about its motives.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced Oct. 9 during a meeting at the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo with the members of the board of directors of Palestinan institutions operating in Egypt that the visit focused on exploring the possibilities of facilitating the lives of the population in the Gaza Strip and providing their basic needs in terms of health care, electricity and mobility.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) government ended its visit to Egypt on Oct. 10, describing it as a successful visit at all levels. The Oct. 7 meeting was the first between the two governments in 20 years. In addition, Palestinian ministers part of the visiting delegation of 13 ministers held meetings with their Egyptian counterparts to discuss means of reactivating the supreme Palestinian-Egyptian Committee and joint cooperation and exchange of expertise in all specialized fields.

Yet Gazan political and economic analysts are not so convinced. They believe the visit aims to tighten the noose on the population of the Gaza Strip. They claim Shtayyeh asked Egypt to entrust a committee affiliated with the PA to handle the supply of goods to Gaza, saying that Egypt rejected the request because of its interests with Hamas.