Egyptian FM: Fatah & Hamas Talks in Cairo to Empower Palestinian Authority in Gaza

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty announced on Monday that delegations from Fatah and Hamas are in Cairo discussing ways to enable the Palestinian Authority to "fully assume control" over Gaza following the war.

During the Gaza Relief Ministerial Conference in Cairo, Abdelatty stated, "There are two delegations from Fatah and Hamas here in Cairo consulting to quickly reach a common understanding regarding the management of life affairs in Gaza under the full control of the Palestinian National Authority. This will empower the Palestinian Authority to clearly and fully take over after the end of the Israeli occupation," according to Agence France-Presse.

In his speech at the opening of the Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance Humanitarian Response in Gaza, the minister emphasized, "We gather today amid the ongoing inhumane and unprecedented tragedy suffered by the Palestinian people in Gaza as a result of the ongoing brutal Israeli aggression. This tragedy has exacerbated their humanitarian suffering, ongoing for decades due to the continuous occupation, further intensified and perpetuated by the inability of international institutions and the international legal system to take decisive and deterrent positions to save the lives of our Palestinian brethren and to stop the severe and ongoing violations committed by the Israeli occupation authority against international law and humanitarian law, and to prevent attempts to create a new reality that displaces Palestinians from their lands and hinders their legitimate, inalienable right to establish their independent state on the entire territories occupied in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Abdelatty added that the aggression on Gaza has exceeded all limits, with Israel continuing to commit atrocities witnessed by the world for over a year without deterrence, in horrifying scenes that words cannot describe. Israel uses starvation and blockade as weapons, and displacement as collective punishment for Palestinians, in gross violation of international humanitarian law.

Abdelatty also pointed out that over the past thirteen months, the international community has stood by watching the atrocities, including the killing of children and women, the displacement of civilian populations, the destruction of schools, hospitals, mosques, and churches, the bombing of ambulances, and even targeting humanitarian workers, including UN staff, with more than 237 of them killed, most of them martyrs from UNRWA, in addition to the destruction of over 2,000 UNRWA facilities in Gaza, including more than 65 of its schools. All this has resulted in the death of more than 43,000 Palestinians; 70% of them women and children; in addition to the displacement of more than 2 million people due to evacuation orders issued by the occupation, now covering more than 85% of the territory of the sector.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister warned that the severity of the disaster is increasing with the ongoing attack on UNRWA and efforts to undermine and destroy its work, which would result in the total collapse of humanitarian response within Gaza and the liquidation of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinians' right to return. Egypt fully condemns the illegal legislation to ban the work of the agency, as it represents a dangerous precedent by a UN member state banning the work of one of its agencies, reflecting a rejection of the international community and its institutions. Egypt emphasizes that there is no alternative to the agency and its indispensable role in the sector, and no other party can replace or perform its role.