Gaza's Hamas head in Egypt visit
Gaza's Hamas premier is in Egypt on his first trip outside the blockaded territory since the Islamists overran it in 2007.
Gaza's Hamas premier is in Egypt on his first trip outside the blockaded territory since the Islamists overran it in 2007.
Ismail Haniyeh met the head of the Arab League and the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo.
Hamas took Gaza by force in a brief, bloody civil war in 2007, expelling forces of the rival Fatah, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel and Egypt responded by blockading Gaza.
Egypt has been heading efforts to reconcile the two rivals. They came to some agreements last week in talks in Cairo. Hamas was represented by its supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, who is based in Damascus.
Hamas is considered a terror group by Israel, the US and EU.
Haniyeh said reconciliation with Fatah is a "strategic" matter.