Egypt to hold separate talks with Palestinian factions on Gaza: Source

Gaza, Jan 1

A Palestinian source revealed that Egypt has offered to hold separate talks with Palestinian factions next week to discuss an end to the Gaza conflict and possible post-conflict arrangement.

The source told Xinhua news agency that the invitations had been sent to PLO member parties Fatah movement, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as Gaza-ruling Hamas and the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement.

The talks would touch on ongoing Egyptian efforts to end the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip, the arrangements for post-conflict Gaza, and the possibility of forming a united Palestinian government for the besieged enclave, Xinhua news agency reported.

This comes as Israeli outlets reported that an Egyptian security delegation from the General Intelligence Service visited Tel Aviv last weekend to discuss Cairo's proposals to end the war on Gaza.

Egyptian officials have recently held separate talks in Cairo with delegations from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad on ceasefire and the swap of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli captives.

There has yet to be any official announcement from Egypt on the arrangement of talks, but Egypt said on Thursday that it has put forth a framework of proposed steps toward ending the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip to relevant parties.

Egypt's State Information Service Chairman Diaa Rashwan said that the framework, which includes "three successive and linked stages, ending with a ceasefire," was drafted after Egypt listened to the views of "all parties concerned with it".

Rashwan said on Friday that "the formation of the Palestinian government," as outlined in the Egyptian proposed three-phase ceasefire initiative, is exclusively a Palestinian matter. The matter has already been discussed among all Palestinian parties, he noted.

Hamas, at a bloody war with Israel since October 7, required a permanent ceasefire and an end to the Israeli aggression as a precondition for entering into any prisoner-captive exchange talks.

The PIJ vowed no swap deal until aggression on Gaza ended and the Israeli army completely withdrew.

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