Palestinian leaders head to Cairo after Gaza talks

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and a number of ministers from the Palestinian government of national unity will leave Gaza for Cairo on Friday to take part in a conference focused on the reconstruction of the devastated Gaza Strip.

The trip follows a successful day-long visit by the reconciliation government to Gaza for the first since it was formed earlier this year, amid rising optimism about Hamas-Fatah cooperation after months of dispute.

The Palestinian delegation to Cairo is expected to return to Gaza after the end of the conference there, minister of agriculture and social affairs Shawqi al-Ayasa told Ma'an on Thursday.

Al-Ayasa said that a number of ministers will remain in Gaza during the Cairo conference, which is expected to bring together the foreign ministers of more than 30 countries to fundraise for Gaza reconstruction, while the rest of the Palestinian ministers will return after the conference to supervise rebuilding.

He said that ministers will meet with governors and private sector directors to be briefed on their work, and discuss possible joint efforts to aid the success of the rebuilding of Gaza. 

The statement from Al-Ayasa came soon after deputy head of the Hamas political bureau Ismail Haniyeh called on ministers from the national unity government to stay in Gaza longer in order to meet the people and government employees.

The call from Haniyeh hints at rising optimism over the fate of the Palestinian reconciliation government as the prime minister and other officials began a visit to Gaza for the first time since the unity deal was signed in April.

"Today the Israeli goal of harming the reconciliation has failed," Haniyeh said during a meeting with Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, hailing the meeting as the "crowning" of the reconciliation. 

Haniyeh also called for the completion of reconciliation during the meeting, which took place at Haniyeh's house in Gaza. 

Critics say Israel has repeatedly sought to undermine the April 23 national unity deal between PLO and Hamas including through a massive arrest campaign targeting Hamas members across the West Bank over summer as well as the 50-day assault on Gaza that killed more than 2,000.

Palestinian officials, however, have stressed the need for national unity in the face of these attacks and said that Palestinian political leaders would remain committed to reconciliation despite the threats.

Delays in the reconstruction of Gaza in the wake of the Israeli summer assault that left more than 110,000 homeless, however, has led to growing frustration and represents a major challenge to political unity.

The political division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2007, a year after Hamas won legislative elections across the Palestinian territories but was subjected to a boycott by Israel and Western countries that left the economy in a fragile state.

In that year, however, Hamas accused Fatah members in the Gaza Strip of engineering a coup to bring down the government, which led to street clashes and ended with Hamas control over the Gaza Strip and a Fatah-led government in the West Bank.