Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has been able to convince Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to sign off on a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Thursday.
Cairo has been trying to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, for the past several months, in an effort to prevent a series of escalating border flare-ups from devolving into a full-fledged war.
Abbas recently admitted that Ramallah has been actively trying to torpedo these efforts, which also seek to outline an agreement that would pave the way for Gaza's economic rehabilitation. Abbas explained that Hamas, which ousted Abbas' Fatah-led government from the Gaza Strip in a military coup in 2007, doesn't have the authority to hold any kind of talks with Israel.
According to Al-Hayat, el-Sissi and Abbas met in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday, where the Egyptian leader explained in detail the nature of the understandings that were reached.
Upon learning all the details, Abbas signed off on the plan, agreeing to "allow Gazans some breathing room," the report said.
The report further said that as part of the deal, Israel agreed to permit Qatar to transfer $90 million to Gaza, to be used to pay the wages of Hamas functionaries. However, Israel conditioned the transfer on the logistics being overseen by the U.N.
The funds are expected to be transferred by the end of next week.
For the first time in years, Israel also agreed to allow increased produce exports from the Gaza Strip, the paper said.
Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper recently published a draft of the Egyptian-brokered deal, detailing several steps toward reaching a long-term cease-fire agreement. The steps, which are contingent on each other, include Hamas' agreement to halt the eight-month border riot campaign, an Egyptian agreement to gradually ease its border restrictions on Gaza and an Israeli agreement to expand the fishing zone off Gaza's coast from its current maximum of 9 nautical miles to 14 miles.
Palestinian media reports on the meeting between Abbas and el-Sissi were vague, with most saying only that the two leaders discussed the Palestinian issue and "common interests."
