By Xinhua
Gaza : A delegation of Hamas, representing the Islamic movement’s exiled leadership and the deposed government based in Gaza, will visit Egypt on Wednesday for discussions over border crossing points, a Hamas spokesman said Monday.
“The visit comes upon an Egyptian invitation and following contacts between the movement and the Egyptian leadership,” said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
Representatives of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will not participate in the talks because they refused to deal with Hamas which has been ruling the Gaza Strip after routing security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in mid June, 2007.
Abbas plans to run Gaza crossings but excluding Hamas in the process. The president has been asking Hamas to step back from itsgrip of the Gaza Strip.
Abbas’ plan adopts a U.S.-brokered deal, signed in November 2005, to open Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt borders with European Union (EU) monitoring as the third party and pro-Abbas security services taking control of the Palestinian side of the passages.
But Abu Zuhri said his movement endorses “a new mechanism and new arrangements to open the crossing,” stressing that the international agreement on Rafah “was something from the past.”
“What we need is a Palestinian-Egyptian crossing point… Hamaswill present its vision in this regard to Egypt,” Abu Zuhri added.
Separately, Abbas is also due to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the border issue on Wednesday.
Israel imposes a strict closure on Gaza since Hamas began ruling the coastal enclave and, in recent weeks, completely tightened the blockade after Hamas militants stepped up rocket attacks on southern Israel.
The efforts to find a solution were sped up after Hamas militants blew up the border defense walls allowing Gazans to cross into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsular to purchase food and other daily necessities on Jan. 23.