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Egypt and the Hamas regime agreed to cooperation on border security as well as an increase in the flow of people and goods to and from the Gaza Strip. They said Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi achieved significant progress toward a strategic alliance.
“The meeting constitutes a real turning point in bilateral relations,” Haniyeh spokesman Taher Al Nunu said.
On July 26, Morsi and Haniyeh met in Cairo in the first summit between the two neighbors. Morsi, a leading Islamist, became the first Egyptian president to meet a Hamas leader.
Hamas said Morsi agreed to increase the flow of people and goods to the Gaza Strip. An official statement said Egypt would increase the number of travelers from the Gaza Strip to 1,500 per day.
“Sixty percent of the Gazan citizens blacklisted by Egypt and denied entry have been removed from the list,” Haniyeh told the Hamas-owned newspaper Palestine.
Gazans have been entering Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula through the Rafah border terminal. Hamas said the terminal would open 12 hours a day.
Morsi, who earlier met Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Masha’al, also pledged to stop deporting Gazans from Egypt. Over the last five years, thousands of Gazans have infiltrated Sinai, with many of them reaching Egypt’s African mainland.
The prime minister also said Egypt would build a natural gas pipeline to the Gaza Strip to maintain its electricity grid. Haniyeh said that eventually the Gaza Strip’s power network would be linked to Egypt.
Haniyeh said Egypt would also consider reopening its consulate in the Gaza Strip, shut down after the Hamas takeover in 2007. The prime minister also said Hamas would respect Egyptian sovereignty. Hamas has overseen a huge tunnel network that facilitates the smuggling of people and weapons from Sinai.
“We cannot provide any cover for any chaos in Sinai or any other part of Egypt,” Haniyeh said.
“The tunnels were a temporary phenomenon created when Palestinians lost all elements of life. They used them to fulfill their needs, and it is their natural right. But if the siege on Gaza is ended, these tunnels will be needless.”
