A meeting to be held Wednesday in Cairo will bring together Hamas and Egyptian officials to discuss the Egyptian plan to send 200 security experts to help maintain security in Gaza Strip as part of the Disengagement Plan, a Hamas source said.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit said the meeting is related only to the Israeli withdrawal and is not intended to arrange another cease fire.
An Egyptian official source said Egypt is trying to prevent the situation from entering into a state of chaos or Islamic groups from taking over the borders after an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and the border area.
Hamas’ delegation to Egypt is headed by the chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas Khaled Masha’al.
‘Talks with the Egyptians will be focused on the withdrawal, and the role of Egypt and other possible Arab countries in Gaza Strip,’ said Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas’s spokesperson in Gaza Strip.
‘We must deal with Sharon’s plan as a unilateral plan and there should not be any political price to be paid by the Palestinians,’ Abu Zuhri added.
Hamas had said earlier that its attacks against Israeli targets will not stop entirely after the withdrawal from Gaza Strip since this withdrawal is not the ‘end of the occupation’ as the West Bank will remain under occupation.
Israeli sources claimed they found documents in a Hamas office that proves the movement’s intention of taking over the Gaza strip after an Israeli withdrawal.
Abu Zuhri has denied these allegations considering it an attempt to create internal conflict among the Palestinians.
‘This is a Zionist propaganda that aims to split Palestinian unity,’ Abu Zuhri said.
‘Hamas’ position is clear; it calls for a unified leadership in which everybody takes part, based on a program all parties agree on,’ he said. Abu Zuhri added, ‘The administration of the liberated areas will be done by a leadership that represents all the political factions. We are a group against individuality in leadership. It is not accepted from any side.’
The Egyptian role in the Gaza Strip has been debated among the Palestinian factions. The factions stressed that Egypt’s role is to support the Palestinian security and not to replace it.
