Hamas denies meeting with Israeli official

By Mustafa Haboush</p> <p>GAZA, Palestine (AA) – Palestine’s Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) denied Monday that it has held any meetings with Israeli officials in Egypt’s capital. </p> <p>A reported meeting in Cairo between Hamas officials and a representative of the Israeli occupation government is totally false and baseless, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement. </p> <p>The promotion of this false news is a miserable attempt to “distort the resistance”, Qassem added.</p> <p>On Saturday, the Saudi-owned London-based Independent Arabia news website reported that a secret meeting had taken place last week in Cairo between Nadav Argaman, the head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, and Hamas leaders including Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of its political bureau.</p> <p>The website claimed the meeting was mediated by Egyptian Intelligence Chief Major General Abbas Kamel, who reportedly suggested that Argaman should listen directly to Hamas’ conditions for achieving a long-term truce with Israel and directly present Israel’s position to the Hamas leaders.</p> <p>Over the last several months, Egypt, Qatar and the UN have been holding consultations with various parties in an effort to hammer out a truce between Hamas-led Palestinian resistance factions and Israel.