Egypt’s Morsi meets with Hamas chief Haniya

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories

Hamas hailed the meeting between its leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniya, and Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on July 26, saying it represented a “turning point” in bilateral relations, Agence France-Presse reported.

“The meeting between Haniya and the Egyptian president constitutes a real turning point in bilateral relations,” Haniya’s spokesman in Gaza, Taher al-Nunu, said in a statement, yesterday. The July 26 meeting in Cairo “touched on strategic issues, and bodes of a future of joint work,” he added. “The prime minister is comfortable with the results of his meeting with Morsi,” Nunu said. Haniya’s visit to Cairo, a week after Morsi met with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, came days after Palestinian officials said Egypt had eased visa requirements for Gazans under 40.

Morsi, Meshaal meeting
Last week, Haniya had hailed the meeting between Morsi and Meshaal as a “fruit of the revolution” that overthrew Morsi’s predecessor Hosni Mubarak early last year. Hamas is an offshoot of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah from the territory neighboring Israel and Egypt, hoped Morsi’s election victory would strengthen its position. Gaza has been under semi-blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas took over the enclave. Mubarak eased the blockade under pressure in 2010, but did not allow commercial traffic through the Rafah border crossing as Hamas had hoped.