RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The Islamic Jihad played a key role and was an essential partner for Hamas in the Israeli war on Gaza in summer 2014. It also took part in the indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks in Cairo that resulted in a truce agreement Aug. 26. It now seems, however, that in regard to negotiations with Israel, the group's partnership with Hamas has ended. On Oct. 4, Al-Monitor met with Nafez Azzam, a member of the Islamic Jihad’s political bureau, who spoke about the movement’s position on negotiations, intermittent military escalations between Gaza and Israel and his group's relations with Arab and regional parties.
The text of the interview follows: