PA to halt security cooperation if Israel agrees a truce with Hamas

The Palestinian Authority will sever ties with Israel and stop security cooperation if it signs a truce with Hamas, Egyptian and Palestinian sources revealed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Friday. The PA would also abandon all of its financial obligations in the Gaza Strip, at the top of which are the salaries of public servants in the territory.

According to informed sources, the Egyptian intelligence agency has suggested that the truce talks between Israel and Hamas continue in tandem with reconciliation discussions. Cairo has apparently pledged to put pressure on the Palestinian factions to accept what is best for Fatah and the PA.

The latest discussions ended with the truce talks put on hold until further notice, while reconciliation discussions are being intensified, with more pressure put on Hamas to accept Fatah’s recommendations for the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation proposal.

READ: PA to take action against Hamas after reconciliation fails

Fatah and the PA insist on full control over Gaza’s border crossings and all tax sources, as well as control of the security services and the weapons of the Palestinian resistance factions. The latest Fatah delegation to Cairo is said to have passed Abbas’s message to the Egyptians that they should completely freeze truce talks in order to put pressure on Hamas and oblige it to hand over the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement is expected to receive an Egyptian delegation in Gaza today. It insisted that it has heard nothing new from Egypt regarding the truce and the reconciliation talks.

Hamas revealed that it had started internal discussions to reactivate the administrative committee in Gaza, which was dissolved in October 2017 as part of the reconciliation deal reached with Fatah. Although insisted upon by the Fatah-controlled PA, the dissolution of the committee was not enough for Mahmoud Abbas, who has imposed punitive measures on the Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave.

When asked about breaking the 12-year Israeli-led siege, Hamas stressed that it would not stop the Great March of Return protests until the blockade is brought to an end.