Middle East Eye: The stalled date for the Palestinian elections may be related to Egypt's anger

The British Middle East Eye website said that Egypt is angry that Turkey assumed a central role in the reconciliation between the Palestinian factions, and considers the success of the talks that took place in Istanbul between the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) as a violation. For its historical role in the Palestinian cause.

The website said

that if the Palestinian factions failed to agree to hold another meeting and set a date for elections, it may have something to do with this Egyptian anger.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who knows Egypt's anger at Turkey's "influence" on the Palestinian talks, according to the site, has postponed the issuance of a presidential decision to set the date for the Palestinian elections, a major step that was agreed upon in Istanbul last September.

At that meeting, the two factions decided to refer what they had agreed upon to a leadership meeting that brings together the secretaries-general of the two parties, preceded by Abbas announcing the date of the elections within 6 months.

The report pointed out that Egypt, which has been the main mediator and traditional host of the Palestinian reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas since 2007, has not issued any negative official response to the results of the Istanbul meeting, but the reality of the situation indicates that Turkey's involvement in reconciliation does not satisfy Egypt, which considers such moves. Violation of its historical role in the Palestinian cause.

She reported her annoyance to Rajoub

The site quoted an Egyptian journalist close to the decision-making circles in the government, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirming that Cairo had informed Gabriel Rajoub, a member of the Fatah Central Committee and head of its delegation in Istanbul, "her annoyance" from the meeting.

The Egyptian journalist believes that Cairo’s position is based on the successive actions of the Palestinian Authority’s leadership, towards which Egypt’s anger was stronger than its anger toward Hamas, as the relationship with the latter was based on "security interests" only.

An Egyptian journalist: Cairo informed Rajoub of its annoyance over the Istanbul meeting (Al-Jazeera)

The Egyptian journalist adds that Cairo sees the Istanbul meeting, which came at an official request from President Abbas during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and before that a meeting with the secretaries of the factions in Beirut, as an indication of a new "official approach" by the Palestinian Authority to reformulate its relationship with The axes of the region are a reaction to the rapprochement between the Gulf states and Israel.

The report stated that Rajoub continued to deny Egypt’s anger until today, saying that no one had informed them of this, but in a recent statement he implicitly admitted this anger, as he said in an interview with a local radio station in Gaza, “We went to all those who blame us and explained the situation to them, and the matter was overlooked. He also stressed that Egypt continued to agree to host the Palestinian talks, but he did not specify a date for their resumption.

The website attributed to Abdullah Abdullah, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, as saying that Egypt's enthusiasm for sponsoring the Palestinian national dialogue has clearly "diminished" in recent times, and this increased after the angry position of the Palestinian Authority regarding the normalization deals between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel.

The Palestinians reject the bias of the axes

Abdullah added to the website that Egypt has its accounts that define its policies, "but we as Palestinians are interested in good relations with everyone, and we reject bias towards the axes of the region."

The report indicated that Egypt was the first to welcome the normalization agreements, despite the Palestinian Authority’s description of these agreements as a "stab in the back."

Hossam Dajani, a professor of political science at the Ummah University in Gaza, expressed his belief that Egypt's welcome to this step, in addition to the failure of the Arab League and its president, former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to stand with a Palestinian draft resolution condemning normalization, angered the Palestinian Authority to the point that it agreed to the two Beirut meetings. And Istanbul, to deliver a "protest letter" to Cairo.

The role of Egypt is indispensable

Nevertheless, Dajani told the site that Fatah and Hamas, regardless of their anger at Egyptian policies, cannot completely dispense with the role of Cairo, just as Egypt cannot completely abandon its role in the Palestinian issue in favor of its Turkish opponents, and that Egypt's anger has "limits."

The report also indicated that the pro-government Egyptian media obtained a "green light" to attack Hamas and to resume previous accusations of "terrorism" against the movement and its alleged interference in Egyptian affairs in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Media incitement

Dajani said that the media incitement is a "message" to the Palestinian parties that Cairo is angry at transferring dialogue and reconciliation to other capitals after many years of exclusive Egyptian sponsorship.

Hossam Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, did not want to go into details of the faction’s current relationship with Egypt, but he told the website, “We believe, as all Palestinian parties do, in the importance of Egypt and its role in the Palestinian file and achieving reconciliation, and we also welcome any effort by any party in this direction. He supports our national march. "

Nevertheless, the site says that observers believe that the meeting of the secretaries-general of the Palestinian factions was postponed due to the failure of the Palestinian leadership to obtain official Egyptian approval to host the talks in Cairo.

Care and hosting

An official source in a Palestinian left-wing faction said that Egypt refuses to "reduce" its role from sponsorship to mere hosting, and also wants to agree as Palestinians first, criticizing what he described as a "slowdown" in implementing the results of the meeting of secretaries general in Beirut.

The Palestinian request to Cairo was to hold the meeting at the headquarters of the Palestinian representation office in the Egyptian capital, not as usual in the hospitality of the Egyptian General Intelligence.

Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said during his recent visit to Russia that Moscow was also ready to host the meeting.

Thabet Al-Amour, a political analyst close to the Islamic Jihad Movement, ruled out holding the meeting in any capital other than Cairo, saying, "Egypt can never be ignored," stressing that all Palestinians are keen on the continuation of the Egyptian presence.