According to Hamas the Egyptian government officially told the movement that Cairo has postponed indirect negotiations with the Israeli occupation authorities in Cairo.
“Egypt informed the movement of the postponement of negotiations to cement the Gaza war ceasefire and discuss the recent Israeli violations as well as several other issues,” Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement on Sunday.
The Palestinian and Israeli sides have agreed to postpone the negotiations originally scheduled for 27 October due to Jewish and Muslim holidays.
Barhoum did not specify a time when such meetings may be held.
The indirect Palestinian-Israeli negotiations were scheduled to begin under the auspices of Egypt on Monday, after nearly two months of the 51-day Israel offensive on the Gaza Strip that killed 2,200 Palestinians and injured tens of thousands while also destroying thousands of housing units. Seventy-three Israelis were also killed in the offensive.
The conflict ended on 26 August with an agreement to hold future talks on solidifying the ceasefire, with the Palestinians demanding an end to Israel’s eight-year blockade of Gaza.
The Gaza Strip has been subject to three wars within the past six years that have claimed a total of 3,760 lives, 2,200 of which were in the latest offensive.
An informed source told Ahram Online that the indirect negotiations have been postponed because of the security situation in Egypt, expecting that it will take a long time until things settle down in the Sinai.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared a state of emergency in parts of North Sinai shortly after at least 31 members of the Egyptian security forces were killed and 30 injured in two separate attacks in the governorate on Friday.
The state of emergency will last for three months and will include a daily curfew from 5pm to 7am until further notice.
Al-Sisi said in comments aired on state television on Saturday that “foreign hands lie behind Friday’s attacks.”
Over 40 security personnel have been killed in attacks in the Sinai Peninsula this week, including the two attacks on Friday.
The Egyptian authorities announced the closure of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip until further notice, due to the security situation in the Sinai.
Source: Ahram Online
