Egypt intelligence officials meet with Hamas in Gaza
Meeting is also attended by UN special Mideast coordinator Nikolay Mladenov
A group of Egyptian intelligence officials on Friday met with several leading Hamas members, including group leader Ismail Haniyeh, in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The meeting was also reportedly attended by Nikolay Mladenov, the UN's special coordinator for the Mideast peace process.
A Palestinian source close to the meeting told Anadolu Agency that participants had discussed recent political developments in the Palestinian arena, a proposed Hamas-Israel truce, and ongoing efforts to achieve reconciliation between Hamas and rival Palestinian faction Fatah.
On Thursday evening, the Egyptian officials -- representing Egypt’s General Intelligence Service (GIS) -- arrived in the Gaza Strip, which has been run by Hamas since 2007, via the Rafah border crossing.
The delegation is being led by Major-General Ahmed Abdel Khaliq, the GIS’s director for Palestine affairs.
Recent months have seen Egyptian officials engage in intense shuttle diplomacy between the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel, where they have held talks with Hamas, the Palestinian government and Israeli officials respectively.
