Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal's deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday night for the first time in almost 20 years, a number of news reports on Saturday. The London based newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Marzouk, who was headed a Hamas delegation in Cairo for Palestinian reconciliation talks, visited Gaza as a result of progress in negotiations with Israel on a cease-fire, and the release of captured soldier Gilad Schalit. According to the report, the rest of the delegation returned to Damascus, where Marzouk is based.
A Reuters report quoted Palestinian and Egyptian officials confirming that Marzouk crossed into the Strip. They said he entered via Rafah, on the border between Gaza and Egypt, and left after only a few hours.
| Just dipping his toes into the water ... |
Earlier this month, meanwhile, Marzouk told The Guardian that captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit would only be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Regarding the soldier's exact location, the Hamas official reportedly said that "it's good that they [the Israelis] don't know where he is, otherwise they would have killed him."
Marzouk reportedly reiterated statements made by his group that the issue of Schalit would not be linked to the cease-fire with Israel. "Israel and Egypt and Hamas have known for two years that the Schalit file is completely separate from other issues. We are ready to start negotiating about Schalit, but the issue is not linked to any other as far as we are concerned," he was quoted by the British paper as saying.