Deputy Palestinian Authority chairman Hussein al-Sheikh and head of the General Intelligence, Majed Faraj, arrived in Cairo today (Sunday) and met with senior Egyptian officials, as part of efforts to advance the "second phase" of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
According to reports, the Egyptian side presented Palestinian officials with a list of candidates for a committee of technocrats that is supposed to administer the Strip, at least temporarily, after the end of Hamas rule. Sources involved in the talks said Israel and the United States had already given their approval to the names.
However, a senior Palestinian official who spoke to the newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed stressed, "Any committee that is established and operates without Palestinian national legitimacy will not succeed," and clarified that this stance was conveyed to Arab parties and the U.S.
Among the issues discussed in the talks were reopening the Rafah crossing in both directions, deploying a Palestinian and a European force in the crossing area, and a return to the 2005 arrangements, under which Palestinian forces operated in civilian clothing alongside a European presence.
Another issue on the table is the deployment of Palestinian Authority security forces inside the Strip.
PA security sources said that hundreds of police and Palestinian security personnel underwent training in Egypt over the past year, in preparation for the possibility of PA forces entering Gaza when the war ends.