“It's as if we had returned to the good old days when [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas would come to Egypt to discuss developments in the peace process or reconciliation efforts. But the situation is different now,” said Sherif, a taxi-driver, commenting on Abbas's visit to Egypt. Some commentators regard Abbas's visit as a sign that Egypt is gradually regaining its status in the region and that it will soon be able to play a more active role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. These are apparently Abbas's wishes as well. During the visit, Abbas expressed his hope that Egypt would once again mediate the peace talks with Israel and resume its past role as a broker of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. However, Mohsen Zahran, a political science professor at Alexandria University, said that it would be premature to assume that Egypt could play a leading role in the negotiations at present. “Abbas's visit is to show support for Egypt rather than to ask for its support at present,” Zahran told Al-Ahram Weekly. Egypt had more pressing priorities on the internal front, he added, and the country should concentrate on these for the moment. But other Palestinian officials also reiterated Abbas's wish for Egypt to mediate in the Palestinian issue. After a high-level meeting of Fatah members earlier this month, Abbas spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that it was important for Egypt to sponsor Palestinian reconciliation efforts, adding that no alternative to Egyptian mediation was acceptable. One diplomat who talked on condition of anonymity agreed that it would be premature for Egypt to play any role in the peace process. “Egypt should set its priorities. Its internal matters are a top priority, at least until the country has elected a new president and parliament,” he said. In his three-day visit to Cairo, Abbas met interim President Adli Mansour, Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi and Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. A statement issued by the presidency after Abbas's talks with Mansour said that Abbas had expressed the wish that Egypt would reclaim its role as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians. Presidential spokesperson Ihab Badawi said after the meeting between the two leaders that the visit had come at a time when Egypt was regaining its regional role, which includes its long-standing support for the Palestinian people. During his meeting with Abbas, Al-Sisi said that Egypt would always support the demands of the Palestinian people and their right to establish their own independent state. Abbas and Al-Sisi also discussed other regional developments, such as the reconciliation efforts between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas, and the effects of these on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and Middle Eastern stability. However, the talks on Fatah-Hamas reconciliation were expected to be marginal, given the deteriorating relation between Egypt and Hamas since the 30 June Revolution. Fatah considers reconciliation and Egypt's role in mediating it to be a priority for the Palestinians, Abu Rudeineh saying that it would be followed by the formation of a national unity government and presidential and parliamentary elections. Hamas, an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, is in a weak position after it lost the support of the group in Egypt following the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July. “The reconciliation efforts failed when Hamas was in a stronger position. Now that Fatah is in a relatively strong position and Hamas is weaker, reconciliation has become more difficult,” the diplomat said. Fatah, the Palestinian faction chaired by Abbas, and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, have been involved in a war of words in recent months, and this has been affected by the polarisation in Egypt. Fatah was also against the former Brotherhood regime in Egypt, while Hamas supported it. However, divisions between the two factions date back to 2006, when Hamas won the parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip. It took control of the strip in 2007, and it has been suffering under an Israeli land, air and sea blockade ever since. Goods smuggled via the Rafah crossing and tunnels from Egypt have eased the effects of the blockade on Gaza. But in recent weeks, Egypt's interim government has imposed tougher border restrictions in a bid to control terrorist groups in Sinai. It has demolished or sealed the tunnels and imposed strict rules on most passenger traffic. During Abbas's visit to Cairo, he also met Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al-Arabi and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb. This is his second trip to the Egyptian capital after the ouster of Morsi, and it is the first time that he has held talks with Mansour aimed at showing support for the interim government. Abbas was the second Arab leader, after Jordan's King Abdullah, to visit the country following the Egyptian army's removal of Morsi from power. Fahmi, who assumed the position of Egypt's foreign minister in July, has also given the Palestinian Territories special attention during his term in office, his second external tour being to Jordan and the Territories. During the visit, Fahmi reiterated that the Palestinian cause remained an Egyptian priority and thanked Abbas for his support for Cairo. “Abbas was among the first to come to Egypt to show support,” Fahmi told a news conference in Ramallah during his visit there. “I have come to Palestine to express our position and in full support for the rights of the Palestinian people. Egypt will be continuing this support despite present difficulties,” he said.
