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Egypt breaks ice with Hamas

Egypt invited Hamas to Cairo after months of rupture between the parties, indicating Egypt’s efforts to maintain its role in the Palestinian cause.
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Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chief of Hamas' political bureau, announced during an interview on Al-Aqsa satellite channel Feb. 22 that Egypt sent an invitation to Hamas to visit it to discuss several important issues. Arouri said that Egypt is Hamas’ second home and underlined the stability of relations between them.

This is the first time Egypt invites Hamas to visit since November 2019, when a Hamas delegation headed to Cairo to hold talks about the Palestinian reconciliation, the general elections and ways to alleviate the situation in the Gaza Strip. Relations between the two parties had been frosty following Ismail Haniyeh’s visit to Iran in January to offer his condolences following the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. The visit angered Egypt, because Haniyeh allegedly vowed not to visit Iran when Cairo allowed him to conduct his foreign tour.

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