By IINA,
Cairo : Palestinian groups meeting in Cairo have accepted an Egyptian-mediated proposal for a truce with Israel. “All Palestinian factions, forces and parties have accepted Egypt’s proposal on a truce with Israel,” MENA quoted a senior Egyptian official as saying, referring to Hamas, Fatah and all other factions currently in Cairo. The 12 groups meeting in Cairo agreed to the plan, already backed by Hamas and Fatah, for a “comprehensive, simultaneous and reciprocal period of calm to be applied progressively, first in Gaza and then in the West Bank,” the official said.
“This is a stage in a plan aimed at creating a situation that will allow for the lifting of the (Israeli) blockade of the Gaza Strip and the end of internal Palestinian divisions,” the official was quoted as saying.
A deal for a six-month period of calm had already been accepted by Hamas, while Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, from rival Fatah, on Sunday gave the negotiations unconditional support. The Palestinian ambassador to Cairo, Nabil Amr, who was nominated by Abbas to follow the talks, said Egyptian officials would now travel to Israel to submit the plan, but he could not say exactly when. Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman has been serving as a go-between in truce negotiations, as Israel refuses any direct contacts with organizations it considers terror groups.