Ramallah: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and visiting Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel discussed ways to stabilise the ongoing ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the reconstruction of the besieged coastal enclave.
During the meeting on Sunday, the two top officials reviewed the recent developments in the Palestinian territories related to the ceasefire, which Abbas said should include not only the Gaza Strip, but also East Jerusalem and the West Bank, Xinhua news agency.
They also discussed the internal Palestinian division and the reconciliation dialogue between Abbas’ Fatah party and the Islamist Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip.
Kamel, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Sunday, is scheduled to arrive in the Gaza Strip on Monday to hold talks with Hamas leaders on stabilising the ceasefire.
On May 21, Egypt brokered a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas that ended 11 days of violence between the two sides in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The fighting left 254 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead, and also caused massive damages to the buildings and infrastructure in Gaza.
Also on Sunday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye met the new European Union’s Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, Sven Koopmans here to discuss the revival of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that has stalled since 2014.
Ishtaye said in a statement that it is important to fill the political vacuum by presenting a European initiative on resuming the stalled peace process to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause.