Egyptian Intel in Ramallah on Unity Mission

YERUSHALAYIM

In the latest round of attempts at Palestinian unity, Egyptian intelligence officials met in Ramallah on Thursday with officials of Fatah to discuss reconciliation with Hamas and the ongoing financial crisis.

The Egyptian delegation’s visit to Ramallah came amid reports that Cairo has decided to resume its efforts to solve the Fatah-Hamas schism, especially in light of the U.S. peace initiatives, the official PA news agency Wafa reported.

The Egyptians were led by senior General Intelligence Service officials Ayman Badi’ and Ahmed Abdel Khaleq. On the Fatah side were Azzam al-Ahmed, Rouhi Fattouh, Hussein al-Sheikh and Majed Faraj, head of the PA General Intelligence Service.

Hamas denied on Thursday reports that the Egyptian intelligence officials were also coming to the Gaza Strip.

Also, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif Qanou warned that the informal truce with Israel was now at risk after the killing of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Adham earlier in the day by the IDF.

The IDF said that al-Adham, who belonged to Hamas’s “control force,” was following two Palestinians who approached the border with Israel.

“In retrospect, it appears that the IDF force that arrived at the incident identified the Hamas activist as an armed terrorist and fired at him by mistake,” said a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

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