Palestinian officials arrive in Egypt to discuss peace process

Egypt has played a major role in the brokering of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas; longest-serving Jordanian prisoner in Israel arrives home: Officials

CAIRO

Palestinian leaders, including Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and a delegation from the Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for separate talks with Egyptian officials that aim to reinforce a ceasefire with Israel.

Haniyeh’s visit came in response to a special invitation from Cairo, in advance of a broader meeting of Palestinian factions that could begin as early as next week, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.

Jibril Rajoub, a senior figure from Abbas’s Fatah movement, which runs the Palestinian Authority (PA) that exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli occupied West Bank, was also expected to meet Egyptian officials, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said. Abbas has been invited to Egypt.

The Palestinian and Egyptian sources did not say whether the delegations from the rival Palestinian groups would meet each other.

Egypt has played a major role in the brokering of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the group which rules Gaza, after 11 days of conflict erupted on May 10.