Sisi follows up on Palestinian reconciliation progress: Fatah head

CAIRO – 28 December 2017: The head of Fatah's Central Committee and delegation, Azzam al-Ahmad, met on Thursday with a number of Egyptian officials, who are responsible for following up on the implementation of the reconciliation agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas.

Ahmad asserted that “President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi personally followed up on the development of the reconciliation”, stressing that Egypt’s continuous supervision of the reconciliation is a must.

He stated that he reviewed with Egyptian officials the obstacles that rose during the implementation of the agreement, and emphasized the importance of full adherence to its implementation accurately, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to transfer the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Ahmad hailed Egyptian efforts in achieving the reconciliation, stressing that he was recently in contact with Hamas movement to overcome all the difficulties and obstacles that stand against ending the division.

He further asserted the significance of strengthening the unity of Palestine internally especially in the face of the Israeli-American move and mobilizing the energies of the Palestinian people towards ending the occupation.

The two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, signed an Egypt-brokered reconciliation deal in Cairo, in a key step towards ending a decade-long rift between the two movements.

The deal will see administrative control of the Gaza Strip handed to a Fatah-backed unity government.

A month later, Palestinian national authorities and factions met upon an Egyptian invitation in Cairo to resume talks between Fatah and Hamas in order to discuss and agree on the implementation of the next step of their Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal.