Haniyeh's exit comes amid reports of progress in mediation efforts to consolidate ceasefire understandings reached earlier this year with Israel.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHHamas chief Ismail Haniyeh next to his destroyed office (REUTERS/Handout)(photo credit: HANDOUT/REUTERS)
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is expected to leave the Gaza Strip on Monday amid reports of progress in mediation efforts to consolidate ceasefire understandings reached earlier this year with Israel.A Palestinian source in the Gaza Strip said Haniyeh will visit Moscow for talks with Russian officials on the situation in the coastal enclave and the latest developments surrounding the truce understandings with Israel.The source told the Arabi21 news website that Haniyeh will also hold talks with senior Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo.The source pointed out that the Egyptians have agreed to allow Haniyeh to leave the Gaza Strip for the first time in three years. According to the source, Haniyeh is also expected to visit Qatar and Turkey.Last week, a senior Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya and Rouhi Mushtaha also left the Gaza Strip for a tour of a number of countries, including Turkey and Lebanon. The Hamas delegation is also reported to have met in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence officials before heading to Turkey and Lebanon.The Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported on Sunday that Palestinian Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ziyad al-Nakhalah is also expected to arrive in Cairo next week for talks with Egyptian intelligence officials on the situation in the Gaza Strip.The discussions in Cairo are focused on ways of ending the rift between Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction and reaching a long-term ceasefire agreement between the Gaza-based factions and Israel.Israel’s Channel 13 News reported on Sunday that “significant progress” has been made in Egyptian-brokered talks between Israel and Hamas.The Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar claimed that UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov is scheduled to visit the Gaza Strip for talks with Hamas officials on a long-term truce and possible prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.Last week, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip denied that progress has been made regarding a prisoner swap with Israel. Two Israeli civilians, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, are being held by Hamas after they separately crossed into the Gaza Strip on their own. Hamas is also holding the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who were killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
