On Tuesday Egypt reached agreement on a long-term ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. In a press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen said Tel Aviv agreed to a permanent truce to end seven weeks of fighting in Gaza. The truce will allow relief supplies and construction materials into Gaza. Discussions on more pressing issues of the peace negotiations, such as the potential establishment of a seaport and an airport in the Gaza Strip, will begin in a month. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Shoukri met with Abbas and his delegation at Al-Ittihadiya Palace on 23 August, where they discussed recent developments. Abu Mazen praised Egypt's efforts as practically the sole mediator since Israel's recent attack on the Gaza Strip, beginning on 8 July. Egypt has been mediating between Palestinian factions and Israel, resulting in a series of temporary ceasefires and culminating in the current truce. Immediately after the meeting, Abu Mazen held a press conference at which he told the press that Palestine's primary concern is putting an immediate end to the bloodshed in Gaza. More than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed, at least 10,000 others injured and nearly 460,000 have fled their homes since Israel's incursion. Abu Mazen said that he agreed with Al-Sisi to proceed with the negotiations in order to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement. “After the truce takes place, construction work could start immediately in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, following the ceasefire, all parties can sit together for thorough negotiations,” Abu Mazen said. Israel's attacks on Gaza escalated on 17 July when Israel launched a ground operation. Egypt has condemned what it described as a severe violation of innocent civilians' rights, including women and children. Political analyst Emad Gad of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies says that since Al-Sisi came to power, Egypt has regained its strong position as a central state in the region. Its restored stability, he argues, will have a positive influence on its Arab neighbours, especially Palestine, Libya, Syria, and Iraq. “Egypt will only be able to regain its former regional glory — becoming as it was in the era of late president Gamal Abdel Nasser — when it liberates itself from absolute US dominance,” Gad says, “a state of affairs that began during the regime of the late president Anwar Al-Sadat, who succeeded Nasser, so much so that by the end of former president Hosni Mubarak's era, Egypt was simply following US orders.” According to Gad, Al-Sisi is taking a different stance on the US from that of his predecessors. While continuing to maintain strong ties with the US, he is directing Egypt towards a more independent foreign policy. “He is heading to the east. His recent trip to Moscow and his expected visit to China are clear evidence of this,” Gad said. Hassan Nafaa, professor of political science at Cairo University, said that since the outbreak of the January 2011 revolution, Egypt has been devoured by its internal affairs, which made it incapable of exercising any influence regionally or internationally. “The situation worsened when the political influence of Iran and Turkey increased, weakening the diplomatic power and effectiveness of most Arab countries. Accordingly, the Palestinian cause retreated on the Arab countries' agenda, and Palestinians were left to face Israel alone, something which they cannot do,” said Nafaa. The advent of Al-Sisi coming to power, according to Nafaa, provided Palestinians with the hope that their cause will return to its place as a top priority on Arab leaders' agendas. Nafaa believes that Palestinians need to repair their relations with Egypt, which were damaged during the one-year role of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, because Hamas was accused of interfering in Egypt's internal affairs. “This led to Egyptian mistrust towards Palestinians in general, driving the authorities to take measures against the Gaza Strip, including the destruction of hundreds of tunnels dug by Hamas,” said Nafaa. According to Nafaa, along with other factors, such as ending political and financial support to Hamas, Egypt's actions have yielded several results, the most significant of which is the internal Palestinian reconciliation that ended the seven-year separation between Fatah and Hamas. “In short, Hamas learned its lesson,” he added. Meanwhile, the end of the Palestinian political split also marked a return to normality with Egypt. The Palestinian Presidential Guard is taking over control of the border between Gaza and Egypt, which will lead to more Palestinian control over security and enable Egypt to deal with security in Sinai more effectively. As a result, Mustafa Al-Sayed, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo (AUC), believes the Palestinian cause could once regain the strong regional and international support it needs. Mustafa raised a further important point by arguing that “Al-Sisi will not go back on the peace treaty with Israel, because it is of great importance to Egypt's national security. “However, it is expected that he might ask for amending certain articles of the treaty. There will also be a cold peace with Israel, and Egypt will take a leading and active role in confronting Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank.” Palestinians currently have high hopes that Egypt has accomplished has largely reclaimed its internal stability. “If Al-Sisi refuses to draw back from confronting Israel, as Egypt did during the Mubarak era when it was under Washington's thumb, that will be a great benefit for the Palestinian cause,” Al-Sayed said.
