UPDATE - Egypt intelligence officials meet with Hamas in Gaza

UPDATES WITH HANIYEH’S REMARKS

By Mohamed Majed and Hani al-Shaer

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - A group of Egyptian intelligence officials on Friday met with several leading Hamas members, including group leader Ismail Haniyeh, in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The meeting was also reportedly attended by Nikolay Mladenov, the UN's special coordinator for the Mideast peace process.

A Palestinian source close to the meeting told Anadolu Agency that participants had discussed recent political developments in the Palestinian arena, a proposed Hamas-Israel truce, and ongoing efforts to achieve reconciliation between Hamas and rival Palestinian faction Fatah.

In comments made shortly afterward, Haniyeh described Mladenov’s participation at the meeting as "unprecedented".

"This morning witnessed an unprecedented tripartite meeting between representatives of Hamas, the UN and Egypt," he said in Gaza City after Friday prayers.

According to Haniyeh, the meeting focused primarily on the “Palestinian national project” and conditions in Gaza, especially as they pertain to ongoing popular demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.

“The Palestinian political scene is at a crossroads; we face numerous challenges -- but there are also opportunities,” he said without elaborating.

On Thursday evening, several Egyptian officials -- representing Egypt’s General Intelligence Service (GIS) -- arrived in the Gaza Strip, which has been run by Hamas since 2007.

The delegation is being led by Major-General Ahmed Abdel Khaliq, the GIS’s director for Palestine affairs.

Recent months have seen Egyptian officials engage in intense shuttle diplomacy between the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel, where they have held talks with Hamas, the Palestinian government and Israeli officials respectively.