Palestinian Authority intelligence chief Majid Faraj told Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar last Friday that the PA wanted to integrate the armed forces of PA factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, into a future PA army, according to foreign reports cited on Tuesday by Channel 10 Television.
Faraj said this was conditioned on them not using weapons until such an army is established. In addition, Faraj tried to persuade Sinwar not to discuss controversial issues during reconciliation talks which resume today in Cairo. Sinwar did not respond positively to the request and said that if there was no discussion of these issues, the PA population would find itself in a crisis "of which no one could bear the consequences."