Palestine bound to Egypt's mediation: President Abbas

By Esat Firat

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday praised Egypt's role in mediating an inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

Abbas met a high-level delegation from the Egyptian intelligence service in the West Bank city of Ramallah according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Emphasizing the role of Cairo to end the Palestinian division, Abbas said: "We adhere to Egypt's role of mediation in inter-Palestinian reconciliation."

Meanwhile, the head of the delegation of the Egyptian intelligence service Amr Hanefi said Egypt would continue its efforts to maintain its role of mediation, to ensure Palestinian internal reconciliation and to ensure national unity under Abbas's leadership.

The two sides agreed to maintain communication between the Palestinian and Egyptian leaders and to overcome the factors that prevent concrete achievements.

Saturday’s visit comes amid ongoing efforts by Cairo to both reach a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza-based resistance groups and achieve reconciliation between rival Palestinian political factions.

In recent weeks, Hamas has been mulling proposals -- tabled by Egypt and the UN -- for inter-Palestinian reconciliation, a Hamas-Israel truce, and humanitarian projects in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreements have failed to bear fruit due to ongoing differences between the two factions.