Hamas: Cairo talks focused on reconciliation, ceasefire, blockade

GAZA, Aug 17 (KUNA) -- The Palestinian Hamas Movement has unveiled that the inter-Palestinian talks held recently in Cairo had focused on dossiers of national reconciliation, ending of Gaza siege, and extending ceasefire.
In a press statement of Hamas' official website, Hossam Badran, a movement official and member of the delegation to Cairo talks, said the conferees called for doubling efforts to achieve national unity through an inclusive partnership among all Palestinians.
The talks also touched upon the need for creating a congenial atmosphere for such unity, with confidence-building moves including the stopping the "punitive measures" taken against people of Gaza and the full implementation of the comprehensive reconciliation agreement of 2011 and the outcome of Beirut agreement in January 2017, he said.
He added that the conferees also mulled mechanisms for extending the ceasefire reached with Israel in a way that ends the suffering of Palestinian people.
Badran concluded that the movements agreed on resuming talks following Al-Adha fest holiday, which will start on Tuesday.
Group members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization are not partaking in Cairo talks which are held amid reports about the approaching announcement of an Egypt-brokered ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. (end) wab.ibi