Fatah, Hamas to head to Cairo next week

A Fatah and Hamas delegation is preparing to head to Cairo next Tuesday to hold meetings in favor of applying the reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo in May 2011, Ma’an quoted member of Fatah’s revolutionary council Fayiz Abu Aita as saying on Wednesday.

The Fatah delegation is scheduled to leave to Cairo on Tuesday, which will come one week after the consensus government started taking over its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Aita said that there are "obstacles" that could obstruct reaching understandings between the two movements, but that they are "all solvable and could be dealt with patiently and wisely."

He reiterated that all issues that have arisen since Hamas took control of Gaza a decade ago -- such as the administration of the border crossings with Israel and Egypt, unpaid salaries to public employees, and the territory's dire electricity crisis -- would be discussed and resolved in Cairo.

Abu Aita's statement came a day after the National Consensus Government convened for the first time in three years in Gaza City, as officials arrived from Ramallah to begin Egyptian-mediated efforts to reactivate the unity government to rule both the West Bank and Gaza.