Representatives of rival Palestinian terrorist organizations Hamas and Fatah met in Cairo on Thursday to discuss the second stage of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, which requires the former’s disarmament in Gaza.
Talks covered “the national scene in general and arrangements after ending the war in the Gaza Strip,” reported Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News.
A source familiar with the talks told AFP that the sides agreed to “continue meetings in the coming period and to work on organizing the Palestinian internal front in the face of the challenges posed by the Israeli government.”
The Palestine Liberation Organization’s largest faction is Fatah, whose chair is Palestinian Authority and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas.
Other meetings took place in Cairo between Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Rashad and representatives of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—the latter two also terrorist factions within the PLO.
Al-Qahera News reported that the purpose of the meetings was to “achieve national Palestinian consensus” with regard to Washington’s 20-point peace plan for the region.
Relations between Hamas and Fatah took a nosedive in 2006 after the Islamist terrorist group won the Palestinian Authority elections, following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza the previous year.
Violent clashes between the two groups ensued, with Hamas seizing power over the Strip in June 2007. Some 600 Palestinians were killed.
Palestinian affairs correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh reported on Friday that P.A. and Hamas leaders, Hussein al-Sheikh and Khalil al-Hayya, respectively, were among those who met in Cairo to discuss the formation of a joint governing body in Gaza.
Egypt, according to Abu Toameh, supports the return of the P.A. to the Strip.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Oct. 10, 2025, possibly ending the two-year war that started when thousands of Gazan terrorists and civilians led by Hamas invaded Israel’s northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, slaughtering some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 more into the Strip.
During the first stage of the ceasefire, the terrorist group agreed to release the remaining hostages, living and dead, while Israel withdrew to the so-called Yellow Line running along the north, south and east of Gaza.
The second phase of the deal is to see Hamas lay down arms, with an international force securing the Strip until a new governing body takes control in Gaza.
