Palestinian factions began, today, Sunday, to reach the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian-Palestinian border, in preparation for their travel to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to participate in the national dialogue that will be held tomorrow under the auspices of the Egyptian intelligence.
Delegations of the factions from the Gaza Strip arrived at the crossing, provided that their contract with representatives from abroad would be completed.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said that the movement’s delegation is leaving today to Cairo to participate in the national dialogue with all factions and forces, adding that one of the main objectives of the dialogue is to ensure fair general elections (legislative, presidency and a national council) and provide the necessary conditions for their success and neutralize any party that may disrupt the course of the elections. Or the confiscation of our people’s democratic options.
For his part, Mahmoud Zaq, representative of the Struggle Front in the Cairo dialogues, said that his front bears insistence that walking in the path that we agree upon is that he entered the elections with national consensus and that we solve problems that may arise.
He pointed out in a special statement together that the Cairo meeting will discuss some details, but it will never discuss the basic principle that we agreed upon, which is going to elections as an entry point to end this black division that the Palestinian people suffered from, whether on the social, economic and living levels, or at the national level, as it constituted a blow to the national project.
He said that there are those who are planning for the Palestinian people to fail the idea of a Palestinian state and to transfer this division into a state of schizophrenia. The Cairo dialogue is to confront this project and send a clear message to the whole world that we are united, discussing the benevolences in a democratic way, and we have hope and insistence that we reach a consensus, starting with the elections and ending with the need to deal positively. With implications in terms of consensus on what we want.
He added, “Failure is prohibited this time. We are not discussing a new agreement. We are discussing details related to this agreement. I understand that there are influential forces seeking to thwart this general national endeavor, but I am completely confident that this time the dialogue will succeed.”
He continued, “There is a danger among the Palestinian people that this division will turn into a state of schizophrenia and that the idea of a Palestinian state will fail, but our awareness of this matter prompts us to transcend differences and divergences and to continue to understandings and consensus that help us achieve the desired goal of our people.”