Meetings continued in Egypt between a number of Palestinian factions and mediators of the ceasefire agreement, as part of efforts to develop the agreement, in light of the existing complications imposed by the conditions on the ground, due to the Israeli escalation and the conditions set by the Tel Aviv government, amid criticism of what is known as the “Dahlan plan” to manage Gaza.
An informed source from one of the factions participating in the meetings told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the first day witnessed the holding of three meetings, one of which was for the eight Palestinian factions participating in the meetings, and two were held by the factions with the three mediators, the Egyptians, the Qataris and the Turks, and they discussed in their entirety the development of the truce and the complexities of the field imposed by the policies of the occupying state.
Review of proposals
He explained that the first day also witnessed a general review of proposals to develop the truce, as the Palestinian factions requested, in accordance with the previous agreement, that the full implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, most of whose provisions Israel is evading, should be carried out at the outset, before moving to the second phase.
He pointed out that the mediators have been working since the first meeting in this round to present “approaches” in order to overcome the existing points of disagreement, as Israel stipulates that moving to the second phase must begin with the implementation of the “disarmament of the resistance” clause, and it and the “Peace Council” link any implementation of reconstruction or relief plans for Gaza to this clause, which is rejected by the resistance factions.
According to the source, he confirmed that things are “not easy,” especially since Israel rejected all the mediators’ demands to “calm the field” in conjunction with this round, and insisted on the first day on sending direct messages through the continuation of field escalation operations, killing and destruction in displacement areas, which indicates the continuation of assassination plans and maintaining control over large areas in the Gaza Strip, which threaten to expand them.
He stressed that the participating factions, in the first day’s meetings with the mediators, demanded the need to stop the escalation, and emphasized that any round of negotiation and mediation cannot succeed in light of the dangerous situation on the ground in Gaza and the continuation of the siege, killing and assassinations, and called on the mediators to demand that the US administration and the “Peace Council” take serious positions that would obligate Israel to do so.
Dahlan's plan
Regarding whether representatives of the “Reform Current,” headed by Mohammed Dahlan, the Fatah leader who was expelled from the movement, had submitted a new proposal to take over the administration of the Gaza Strip, the informed source said that this matter was not discussed during the meetings, stressing, while indicating the rejection of such plans: “There is a national committee that was formed to manage Gaza and is bound by a transitional period, and there is an agreement to make its work a success.” He added: “Everyone agrees that competent bodies should take over the administration of Gaza at this stage and move away from the organizational structure that prevailed during the past period,” stressing that the abundance of proposals “will cause the project to fail.”
It is worth noting that the writer and political analyst Dr. Ibrahim Abrash addressed this proposal, which preceded the start of the current round of negotiations, in an article entitled “Return to the Dahlanistan State Project,” in which he stated: “This news (Dahlan taking over the administration of Gaza), and the meeting of the factions in general, despite the hopes pinned on it by the people of the Strip to put an end to their suffering, confirms the reality of the final separation – geographically, politically and institutionally – between the Gaza Strip and the rest of the territories of the supposed Palestinian state, especially with the exclusion of the Fatah movement, the PLO and the PA from it, and the limitation of the negotiations between the present factions, Mladenov and the mediators to the situation in the Gaza Strip only.”
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on the second day of the meetings that his movement and the Palestinian factions are holding meetings with the relevant ministers from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey “with the aim of finding approaches that ensure the implementation of the first phase, especially the humanitarian aspect, and putting an end to the aggression against the Palestinian people.”
He stressed that his movement is “open to approaches that guarantee the rights of our Palestinian people, stop the genocide in all its forms, and correct the performance of the Peace Council so that it is faithful to the ceasefire implementation plan and moves away from bias towards the Israeli vision and narrative.”
A Hamas before the start of the current round of negotiations, that the factions would study what was presented to them by the mediators in this round, and a unified response would be based on it. He indicated that a unified position from the Palestinian factions regarding the development of the truce agreement would be presented to the mediators, and would be based on the necessity of fully implementing the terms of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement before entering the second phase.
He stressed the need to stop Israeli attacks against Gaza, and affirmed that these assassinations, which are accompanied by a tightening of the siege, are undermining all efforts to develop a truce.
No precise date has yet been set for the meeting between the factions participating in the Egypt meetings and the High Representative of the “Peace Council,” Nikolay Mladenov. The informed source linked this meeting, which the mediators are seeking to hold during this round, to progress in the negotiations.
The resistance factions had preceded this round and directed sharp criticism at Mladenov, during which they announced their rejection of the plan he had previously presented, which is in line with Israel’s demands, and stressed that “Mladenov’s map” for managing Gaza “represents political and humanitarian blackmail, as it links aid, fuel and reconstruction to the disarmament of the resistance.”
Call for inclusive dialogue
On the sidelines of the truce meetings, three Palestinian factions, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front, and the National Initiative, held a meeting to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian situation in light of the continued Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, in addition to discussing the presidential decrees related to the electoral process.
During it, she stressed that “rebuilding the Palestinian political system and renewing the legitimacy of national institutions, including the entitlements guaranteed by the recent presidential decree, require launching a comprehensive national dialogue with the participation of all components of the Palestinian people, provided that its outcomes are binding and enjoy national consensus, away from individual decisions and unilateral actions.”
She stressed “the need for national consensus on the laws and mechanisms regulating the democratic and electoral process, including the draft interim constitution for the State of Palestine, the Political Parties Law, and the electoral system for the Palestinian National Council, in order to strengthen the principles of national partnership and political pluralism.”
Fatah did not participate, and Hamas is open to approaches that would stop the genocide... and an official in the People's Party said: "The ceiling is low."She stressed that these “steps represent an entry point to establishing a more representative, effective and capable political system to confront national challenges, and contribute to strengthening the legitimacy of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its representative status, based on a comprehensive national program that adheres to the established and inalienable Palestinian rights.”
The forces stressed that “the true value of any Palestinian electoral process lies in the necessity of linking it to a comprehensive national project that rebuilds Palestinian institutions and places resistance to the occupation and the achievement of full national rights at the heart of its priorities.”
It is noted that the Palestinian National Liberation Movement “Fatah”, along with most of the factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, were absent from the current truce meetings.
In this context, Walid Al-Awad, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian People’s Party, one of the factions that did not attend, wrote an article published on his Facebook page entitled “Palestinian factions’ dialogues in Cairo under a low ceiling,” in which he pointed out that these dialogues are taking place in the absence of the factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people, “which raises serious questions about the ability of any understandings that may result from them to address the core of the Palestinian crisis, or to provide a comprehensive national basis for confronting the current challenges.”
The article stated that it is also taking place “within the political framework set by the so-called Peace Council and those behind it, which is based on dealing with the Palestinian issue as a humanitarian, security and administrative crisis that needs management and treatment, and not as a national liberation issue for a people living under occupation who are struggling to determine their own destiny and restore their legitimate national rights, in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy.”
He added: “These are dialogues taking place under a low ceiling, governed more by considerations of crisis management than by seeking to resolve it (…) Perhaps the greatest danger lies in the fact that dealing with the Palestinian issue will turn into mere security, humanitarian and administrative arrangements separate from the established national rights of the Palestinian people, thus perpetuating the reality of division and moving it to the point of separation, placing parts of the homeland under various forms of political and security tutelage, and cutting off the path to the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as giving the occupation more time to impose new realities on the ground in both Gaza and the West Bank, through expanding settlements, accelerating annexation projects and continuing displacement policies.”
He reiterated the need to restore the comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization, clearly and unequivocally, as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and the national framework capable of formulating a unified strategy that ends the division and restores the unity of the Palestinian people and their institutions.
