Report: Abbas to meet Sisi about Gaza as part of Egyptian truce efforts
According to media reporters in the Arabic press, Egypt has spoken with Hamas about the possibility of using funds from Qatar to pay the salaries of civil servants in Gaza.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFA handout picture provided by the PPO shows Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on May 9, 2016(photo credit: AFP PHOTO / PPO / THAER GHANAIM)
PA President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi later this week as part of ongoing efforts to restore calm between Israel and Hams, KAN News reported on Wednesday night.The two leaders, who last met in Egypt 10 months ago, are expected to talk about reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas as well as Egyptian efforts to broker a long-term cease-fire in Gaza.According to media reporters in the Arabic press, Egypt has spoken with Hamas about the possibility of using funds from Qatar to pay the salaries of civil servants in Gaza.The Palestinian Authority halted those payments as part the sanctions it imposed on Gaza in hopes of forcing Hamas to relinquish control of the enclave which it has forcibly ruled for the last 11 years.Israel has worked with Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar to circumvent the effect of some of those sanctions, because it believes that the humanitarian crisis that stemmed from those sanctions has helped ignite Gaza violence against the Jewish state.Palestinian Authority frustration that it has been bypassed was one of the factors that led to the PLO non-binding vote Monday night to suspend its recognition of Israel.Abbas has not acted on that recommendation, although PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the process of disconnecting from Israel would be gradual, according to the Palestine News Agency.Israel has held off on launching a military campaign against Gaza to halt the Palestinian border riots and the launching of incendiary devices against Israel.Instead, it has worked with the UN and Qatar to allow for fuel to enter the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza.The fuel has gone to increase the output of the Gaza power plant so that the two million people living in Gaza can have upward of eight hours of electricity a day, instead of the four they had been receiving.
The IDF has, however, had a limited response to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad violence in Gaza.On Wednesday an IDF aircraft fired at a Palestinian on the Gaza side of the southern border who had thrown a Molotov cocktail at Israel.But all eyes are on Friday, as progress is measured, in part, by the extent of the Palestinian violence along the southern border. Last Friday, 16,000 Palestinians participated in such protests.
