A delegation from Hamas headed by Mahmoud Zahar met with Egypt's new foreign minister on Tuesday and is due to meet with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which was handed power after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, later on Wednesday.
”Relations between Hamas and Cairo have continuously developed after the popular revolution in Egypt,” Resheq said, ”and today Egypt has come closer to the beat of the Arab street in general and the Palestinian street in particular. Egypt today is regaining its leadership position in the Arab world. Its relationship with Hamas is good and is developing continuously.”
The assessment comes as the Hamas delegation gears to meet with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces led by Al-Mushir Tantawi, according to high-profile military sources in Egypt.
The parties will discuss the latest developments regarding the opening of the Rafah border crossing, Palestinian reconciliation and the Israeli escalation on the Gaza Strip, the sources told the Palestinian Information Center.
According to those sources, the reason the council delayed meeting with Hamas was because it was preoccupied announcing the new Egyptian constitution.
They added that Egypt has made strenuous efforts over the past few days to curb a new Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
The same delegation had met earlier with new Egyptian MP Nabil al-Arabi, who Hamas has lauded over his positions on the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
Sources told our correspondent that the hour and a half long meeting was characterized with optimism from the beginning, as the FM warmly welcomed the delegation to his office. The parties agreed on most of the issues at hand, the sources added.
Arabi said concerning the several Palestinians not yet released from Egyptian prisons, that a number of Palestinians had already been released and that the Supreme Council is discussing the possibility of freeing the others still on the list.
Arabi also said that Egypt will present within days a new and just draft on opening up the Rafah crossing systematically, and that he chairs a committee operating inside his ministry working on the draft.
The parties agreed on the importance of the Egyptian national security service and that it must maintain security at borders between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
They also managed to discuss how to evacuate the Palestinians stranded in Libya as Gaddafi continues to kill civilians while countering rebel forces. Arabi confirmed that the Egyptian foreign ministry has put forth great efforts to evacuate both Egyptians and Palestinians from Libya and that several Palestinians have been received and given care and transported to the Rafah crossing to return to Gaza.
Arabi pointed out the importance Egypt has attached to ending the Palestinian political split as soon as possible. He said new ideas have been put on the table in that regard.
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