Egypt appears ever more committed to a hands-on approach to Gaza, Dina Ezzat reports By next Tuesday, Egypt hopes to successfully bring together representatives of the two main warring Palestinian factions -- Fatah and Hamas. The meeting would culminate what would amount to 10 days of intensive talks conducted in Cairo by Egyptian General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman with representatives of the leading factions and three other Palestinian groups along with contacts with Israeli officials. Should it take place as scheduled, the Egypt-Fatah-Hamas meeting ought to conclude in agreement on three issues: the commitment of both sides to work towards a firm end to mutual incitement, either in respectively controlled media or mosques; the effective execution of a detailed plan to collect uncontrolled arms within each group, especially those in the hands of second and third cadres leaders; and firm enforcement of the decisions of the leadership of both factions. Above all, informed sources say, the Tuesday meeting will secure the agreement of both factions that the Egyptian security delegation permanently based in Gaza will be expanded and entrusted with overseeing the implementation of any deal struck in Cairo. According to the outlines of the new agreement, which is unlikely to be issued in document form, Egypt will take on the role of arbitrator, including the capacity to direct blame publicly towards any faction it finds guilty of breaking the deal. Palestinian sources insist nothing is decided yet. They add that any deal struck in Cairo is not in contradiction to, or would replace, the Mecca Accord concluded earlier this year under the patronage of Saudi King Abdullah. "It is just that the Mecca Accord was more of a declaration of intention to be followed with a detailed agreement translating the grand ideas into actual steps on the ground," commented one Palestinian source who requested anonymity. An informed Egyptian source who also spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity said that Egypt is very keen not to antagonise its Saudi ally. Therefore no document will be released, in order to avoid piquing sensitivities, but rather attention will focus on firm practical action. "The Saudis know in general terms of what we are trying to do. We spoke with them and so did the Palestinians," he said. As of the beginning of this week, Suleiman, the hands-on administrator of the Gaza file, talked in separate meetings with leaders of Fatah and Hamas to conclude a tentative agreement on a new security plan for Gaza to prevent further Palestinian infighting. According to sources that spoke to the Weekly, the Cairo meetings were convened after the Egyptian security delegation in Gaza complained about the wavering commitment of representatives of Fatah and Hamas to agreements concluded in Gaza through Egyptian mediation. "There was a need for the presence of a high authority, and for meetings to take place in Cairo, where both Fatah and Hamas will be confronted with their responsibilities to end the Palestinian blood- letting," commented one senior Egyptian official. He added that from the beginning of the Cairo talks, Egyptian officials threatened that Egypt would withdraw its mediation from Gaza if the factions insisted on stalling. "They were told in no uncertain terms that Egypt's patience is wearing very thin with continued Palestinian infighting, and that Cairo is determined to take a more hands-on approach to ending inter-Palestinians violence in the Gaza Strip," one source said. According to Egyptian assessment, the agreement of both Fatah and Hamas had been tacitly secured prior to the opening of the Cairo talks. Obviously, sources say, the consent of Fatah -- that enjoys considerable Egyptian support -- was much easier to secure than that of Hamas, which has been -- and some say still is -- dismayed over what it sees as Egyptian bias towards Fatah. Hamas, sources say, insist that Egypt should do two things to win the faction's support for its practical plan of action: gain the commitment of Fatah to control the actions of Mohamed Dahlan and Rashid Abu Shebak who stand accused by Hamas of promoting Palestinian infighting, and provide assurances that the armament of Fatah via the US and sympathetic Arab capitals will be suspended. Once it secures a deal to stop Palestinian infighting on a "long-term basis" (since a permanent end to inter-factional strife is deemed impossible by most in view of the conflicting agendas and ideologies of Fatah and Hamas), Cairo says it will then move to working on a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis. Sources say that if a deal is struck in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas within the coming week or 10 days, in three weeks or less Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and Suleiman might go to Israel to work out a Palestinian-Israeli truce. Indeed, the terms of a Palestinian-Israeli truce should be discussed this week in the Egypt-Fatah-Hamas meeting since this, too, is a subject of disagreement between the two factions. Fatah sources say that they are willing to offer a one-sided Palestinian truce to Israel and then ask the international community to pressure Israel to comply. Fatah also wants to speed up the swap of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured last year, for any number of Palestinian prisoners it can get out of Israeli jails on the reasoning that it is a victory to free any Palestinian. Hamas leaders, however, have plainly told Cairo that they will not sign on to a one-sided truce or what they qualify as an unfair prisoners swap deal. To agree to stop launching Qassam rockets on Israeli settlements, Hamas insists on a total suspension of Israeli incursions inside Gaza. And to agree to release Shalit, Hamas demands that Israel releases not just any Palestinian prisoners but imprisoned Palestinian political leaders. Foreign Minister Abul-Gheit appealed this week to members of the International Quartet (the US, Russia, the EU and UN) who were scheduled to meet yesterday in Berlin to apply political pressure on Israel to secure its commitment to the requirements of a truce with the Palestinians. Moreover, during a meeting with Michael Williams, the new UN special coordinator on the Middle East, Abul- Gheit explored the deployment of international observers on Gaza's borders to secure bilateral commitment to a potential truce. While Egypt believes that an inter-factional deal is necessary to securing a Palestinian- Israeli truce, it also appreciates that a truce would help prolong a Fatah-Hamas accord. And, as Abul-Gheit said this week, it could give a push to Arab diplomatic efforts to get the terms of the Arab peace initiative on the agenda of the international community as a workable basis for the settlement of the Arab- Israeli conflict. The real challenge is to go beyond positive and not always genuine statements to a pragmatic agreement that unites Fatah and Hamas on a common understanding of the Palestinian stance on ending the conflict. "We need to join forces to face our common enemy," said Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza prior to the beginning of the Cairo talks. And according to Fatah leading figure Azzam Al-Ahmed, "without a unified Palestinian position it would be very easy for Israel to get away with its aggression against the Palestinians."
