Hamas delegation heads from Gaza to Cairo for talks

By Nour Abu Aisha and Hani al-Shaer

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - A Hamas delegation set out for Cairo from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Wednesday to hold talks with Egyptian officials.

The delegation is being led by Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy leader in Gaza.

According to group spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, delegation members will meet with Egyptian officials to discuss “bilateral relations and recent developments in the Palestinian and Arab arenas”.

Egypt recently invited leaders of the Gaza-based resistance group to Cairo to discuss prospects for inter-Palestinian reconciliation and ongoing tensions along the Gaza-Israel security fence.

At least 137 Gazan protesters have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire since Mar. 30, when Palestinians began holding mass rallies along the security fence.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has brought the coastal territory -- along with its roughly two million inhabitants -- to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.