By Xinhua,
Cairo : Senior officials of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian mediators on a possible prisoner swap deal with Israel and promoting inter-Palestinian dialogue.
A Hamas team led by the movement’s political bureau deputy-chief Moussa Abu Marzouq arrived in Cairo Tuesday evening from the Syrian capital of Damascus, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported.
Earlier in the day, another team of Hamas from the Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip led by Jamal Abu-Hashem entered Egypt via the Rafah crossing at the Egypt-Gaza border to join the Hamas officials from Damascus.
The Hamas delegation was scheduled to meet with senior Egyptian officials on a host of “pending issues” related to the indirect talks with Israel and the reconciliation dialogue among various Palestinian groups.
Egypt is mediating indirect talks between Hamas and Israel on freeing an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants in Gaza for two years in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
On June 19, Egypt has brokered a six-month-long truce between Israel and Gaza militant groups.
On Monday, Hamas spokesman in Gaza Sami Abu Zuhri said the delegation would discuss with the Egyptian side issues related to the prisoners swap, opening Rafah border crossing and the resumption of inter-Palestinian dialogue.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Sunday that Cairo would invite soon representatives of Palestinian factions and political groups, including Fatah and Hamas, to relaunch an inter-Palestinian dialogue.
However, Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri said that Abbas’ call for the resumption of the dialogue in Cairo “is not serious.”