Fatah members visit Egypt to learn how to face Hamas in Gaza

A number of Fatah members led by prominent official Mohamed Al-Rajab from Al-Khalil met Egypt's Tamarod in Cairo last week in an attempt to transfer the latter's experience to the Gaza Strip.

Fatah wants to learn from the Egyptians how to face up to Hamas in the beleaguered territory.

In a statement, the head of Tamarod's Al-Istiqlal Current said that the two sides discussed possible cooperation on the issue.

Lawyer Ahmed Al-Fedali added that Fatah leaders want to benefit from the experience and policies of his party, which was the first to rebel against the presidency of Mohamed Morsi.

"They want to learn more about Tamarod's ideas in order to apply them against Hamas in the state of Palestine.

" The Tamarod official described Hamas as "the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Palestine".

Hamas party won the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, and Ismail Haniyeh was nominated as Prime Minister, establishing a Palestinian national unity government with Fatah, which effectively collapsed when Hamas and Fatah engaged in a violent conflict.

After the takeover in Gaza by Hamas on 14 June 2007, Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government and appointed Salam Fayad as Prime Minister.

Though the new government's authority is claimed to extend to all Palestinian territories, in effect it became limited to the West Bank, as Hamas hasn't recognized the move and continued to rule the Gaza Strip.