Abbas to visit Cairo to encourage Gaza ceasefire


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is set to meet with Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal and Moussa Abu Marzouq in Cairo this week to discuss an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza-based Palestinian resistance factions.Abbas "wants a ceasefire to end the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip," senior Fatah leader Nabil Shaath told a Wednesday press conference in Ramallah.Abbas is due to arrive in Cairo later Wednesday for a three-day visit during which he is slated to meet with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.Hamas, for its part, has yet to comment on Shaath's remarks regarding the planned meeting."Abbas' talks in Cairo will focus on a ceasefire and how to stop Israel's barbaric attack on Gaza," Shaath said."He will then travel to Turkey for a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before heading to the Gulf region," he added.Since July 7, Israeli warplanes have pounded the Gaza Strip with the ostensible aim of ending Palestinian rocket fire from the besieged coastal enclave.At least 208 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed so far-and more than 1500 injured, many seriously-in unrelenting aerial attacks by the self-proclaimed Jewish state.