The former leader of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front on Sunday urged the Hamas movement to "step aside" and allow the Palestinian national consensus government to take control Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt. Mahmoud al-Ziq, who now belongs to a Gaza-based committee for nationalistic action said "Hamas' insistence to run the Rafah crossing will only bring about more suffering to the people of the Gaza Strip." Al-Ziq stressed that during the creation of the consensus government between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas movement in 2014, it was agreed upon by both parties that the consensus government, which is functionally but unofficially ruled by the PA, be in control of the crossing. The former leaser also urged Hamas to reconsider its political attitude and "negative remarks" concerning Egypt, which has "very serious repercussions" on the Palestinian people. The statement added that "all Palestinian political factions" are still calling on Hamas to end its control on the Rafah crossing under the belief that once Hamas steps aside it will be possible to ease the suffering of Gaza people. The Rafah crossing has only been open for a total of 37 days since October 2014, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Last month, rumors circulated that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi had agreed during a meeting in Cairo on a mechanism to open the Rafah crossing more regularly. However, the Hamas movement -- which effectively controls the Palestinian end of the border crossing -- criticized the rumored deal as a "unilateral arrangement" that "ignored the reality on the ground."
