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Well-informed Palestinian sources said that Egypt wants to advance a project in the Gaza Strip, based on “long-term stability”, by committing to the truce with Israel, in addition to advancing economic projects and improving living conditions in the Strip.

The sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Egyptian officials, who started meetings in Cairo with the leaders of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas movements, want to explore the extent to which a long-term agreement can be drawn up that guarantees a cease-fire on the one hand, and an increase in trade exchange with the Strip. Supplying it with greater sources of energy, finding an appropriate formula for establishing a free trade zone on the borders, and allowing greater movement through the Rafah land crossing.

A delegation headed by the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, and another headed by the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhala, arrived in Egypt on Saturday at the official invitation of the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel.

Kamel will meet with al-Nakhala today (Monday), and he will meet Haniyeh later. The leader of the “Islamic Jihad” movement, Dawood Shehab, said: “The meeting will be a continuation of the great Egyptian effort during the battle, and other files.”

He added that Egypt is completing the steps, endeavors, and measures that it started in the battle of “Revenge of the Free,” (the last round of fighting), since the declaration of a cease-fire with Egyptian guarantees, “and the enemy’s pledges to Egypt, and therefore we need to hear and consult with the brothers in Egypt regarding all the details.” ».

And he continued, “Cairo has a major role, with its historical weight and geographical weight, and its position on the regional and international arena, and the file of the relationship with Gaza and conflict management, and it seeks to complete its role with regard to the repercussions of the (Revenge of the Free) battle, and the subsequent cease-fire.”

After Kamel’s meeting with al-Nakhala, it is expected that the head of Egyptian intelligence will also meet Haniyeh, who had met al-Nakhala before that in an expanded consultative meeting that included the leaders of the two movements.

A Hamas statement said that the two sides discussed “various national issues in light of the occupation attacks on our people in Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the West Bank, and the violations that prisoners are subjected to. Ways to strengthen and consolidate the strategic relationship between the two movements and develop them to serve the resistance were also discussed.” And the various issues of our people ».

The meeting affirmed, according to the statement, that “the Palestinian people will proceed with the option of resistance, which represents the only option for our people in the face of occupation and aggression.”

The two sides discussed the rapid political developments in the region and how to use them to serve the Palestinians. They also stressed the importance of Egypt’s role in supporting our people and their just cause.

Sources familiar with the details of the discussions told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two movements have reservations about a formula that shows a political agreement with Israel that could show the Gaza Strip as a “separate entity”, although they are with any agreement that would help the Strip and its residents.

Hamas had requested, in previous negotiations, to restart the airport and establish a port in the Strip, as part of a long-term agreement, but Israel refused and the agreement did not see the light of day.

Egypt is now trying to find a new formula of which the Palestinian Authority will also be a part. The Palestinian Prime Minister, Muhammad Shtayyeh, had completed a 3-day tour in Egypt, before the arrival of the “Hamas” and “Jihad” leaders.

Shtayyeh said, (Monday): “The recent visit of the Palestinian delegation to Cairo led to important results.” Shtayyeh spoke about the formation of a technical committee to develop proposals to benefit from the reconstruction programs funded by the Arab Republic of Egypt in the Gaza Strip, and to review the commercial and human outputs and inputs of the Rafah crossing.

He started the weekly government session by saying that it was also agreed to provide expertise to establish a single window for investment services, and an understanding between the ministries of economy in the two countries in the field of standards, metrology and gold stamping. It was also agreed to sign an agricultural cooperation protocol between the two countries, to consider increasing the discount in university fees for Palestinian students, to expand the student segment to include Palestinian refugees who hold documents in countries of asylum, and to start technical and security measures to activate the Palestinian mobile service in Egypt.

The agreement also includes training a number of information technology managers from government department employees on data governance requirements to start digitizing the government, and training a number of planning, performance and quality measurement managers in the Palestinian government sector. There are courses to qualify imams and female preachers courses with the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments, and the provision of 150 scholarships from Al-Azhar Al-Sharif for various specializations, such as medicine, engineering, religious sciences, and others, including master’s and doctoral degrees, and training of 20 Palestinian doctors annually in Egyptian hospitals, and the formation of a technical committee to study the delivery of electricity from Egypt to the Gaza Strip.

Shtayyeh also referred to the arrangement for a visit of a delegation of Egyptian businessmen to Palestine next September, and a visit of a delegation of Egyptian university presidents to Palestine.