Egypt proposes hosting separate meetings with Hamas and Fatah in Cairo for a deal on opening the Rafah terminal, said Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit.
The Egyptian proposal came after Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas refused a call by President Hosni Mubarak for Hamas and Fatah to end their differences and invited both sides for talks in Cairo.
In response, ‘Abbas said Hamas must reverse it ‘coup’ in Gaza first before resuming talks with the Fatah movement. Instead, he reiterated his plan to send his forces to the border posts.
In an interview with the London based A-Sharaq Al-Awsat daily, the Hamas’ Damascus-based leader Khalid Mash’al, said Hamas accepted Mubarak’s offer, and confirmed his movement’s readiness to hand over the presidency compound in Gaza to ’Abbas.
But he refused to agree to hand over to the P.A. the security compounds, which Hamas has controlled since last June, without an agreement between the sides
“The security compound will be handed over as part of a separate deal with the PA,” the Hamas leader said.
The Egyptian government faces a difficult situation after tens of thousands of Gaza Palestinians crossed into Egypt after armed men blew up a border wall on Wednesday to break the Israeli closure.
The Israeli closure, which was imposed to pressure Hamas into stopping rocket fire into Israel, led to sharp shortage in food and other basics.
But after an Israeli threat to give up responsibility over Gaza, Egypt sent thousands of riot police to the border and began placing barbed wire and chain-link fences to stop more people crossing.
In retaliation to the Egyptian move, Palestinians threw stones at Egyptian police wounding 22 Egyptian security men, the Egyptian state news agency MENA said
This response obliged Egypt to start searching for other solutions to the crisis, including mediating talks between Hamas and Fatah.