Abu Marzouq To Attend Hamas-Fatah Meeting İn Gaza

Egyptian authorities have agreed to allow Hamas deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouq to cross into the Gaza Strip to attend reconciliation talks with rival Fatah.



"Abu Marzouq will come from Egypt on Monday morning through the Rafah border crossing," Youssef Rizka, a political advisor to Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, told Anadolu Agency late Sunday.



A delegation from Fatah, the movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, is due in Gaza Monday to discuss reconciliation with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip since 2007.



Abu Marzouq moved to Egypt from Syria after the 2011 popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.



Relations between Hamas and Egyptian authorities have deteriorated since last July, when the Egyptian army ousted elected president Mohamed Morsi and cracked down on his Muslim Brotherhood group.



Egyptian authorities accuse Hamas, an ideological offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, of interfering in Egypt's domestic affairs and carrying out attacks inside the country – charges Hamas emphatically denies.



An Egyptian court has recently banned the activities of Hamas in Egypt and ordered the confiscation of its offices.



But Rizka said the new round of reconciliation talks between Palestinian factions will still be sponsored by Egypt.



He added that Haniyeh had called Egyptian intelligence officials last week to update them on the latest efforts to heal Palestinian rifts.



Relations between Hamas and Fatah have been tense since the Islamist movement seized full control of the Gaza Strip following deadly clashes with Fatah in 2007, a few months after Hamas had defeated Fatah in the parliamentary election.



By Mustafa Haboosh



englishnews@aa.com.tr - Gazze