Sources within the Fatah organization report serious differences between Palestinian Authority Chairman, Mahmoud ‘Abbas, and his prime minister, Salaam Faya’d, over control of the Rafah terminal.
According to the sources, the differences arose when ‘Abbas rejected a plan drafted by his government to assume control of the border crossing in accordance with a 2005 agreement signed with Israel.
Instead, ‘Abbas insists that the presidential security forces should be in direct control of the crossing alongside the European Union observers, which the E.U. said on Monday it would send back to the terminal if the P.A. guaranteed their personal safety.
Part of the dispute also stems from Fayyad’s presentation of his plan to both the U.S. and Israel without ‘Abbas’s approval, a source close to ‘Abbas told The Media Line, but asked not to be named.
Faya’d’s security plan was welcomed by both U.S. and Israeli officials, while ‘Abbas’ plan gained the backing of the Arab League ministers in their meeting in Cairo last Sunday.
Consequently, Abbas excluded his prime minister from the delegation arriving in Cairo today for talks with the Egyptians regarding an agreement for reopening the Rafah terminal, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world.
Meanwhile, a Hamas delegation chaired by Mahmoud A-Zahhar, a prominent Hamas leader, is also on its way to Egypt for talks on the same subject.
The decision to send a delegation to Cairo came after Hamas, which is in control of the Gaza Strip, insisted on being part of any agreement concerning the border crossing.
Hamas wants the crossing to be controlled and operated by Egypt alone and the Palestinians, without any intervention from Israel.
For his part, Ahmad Yousef, an advisor to Hamas’ deposed prime minister, warns against excluding the group from any deal on the terminal, saying “what happened in Rafah was a big development…And all parties must realize that.”
Yousef was referring to the breach of the Rafah barrier a week ago through which tens of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt, breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
“If they don’t learn from what happened in Rafah, next time half a million people will march towards the Erez crossing on the border with Israel.”
Meanwhile Egypt with the help of Hamas, managed to close the breaches in the border barrier yesterday.