Islamic Jihad leader in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials
Sept. 2, 2015 2:55 P.M. (Updated: Sept. 2, 2015 2:55 P.M.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767387

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah arrived in Cairo
late Tuesday to meet with Egyptian officials, a source from the group said.

Shallah, who was accompanied by his deputy, Ziad Nakhala, visited Egypt to
discuss the ceasefire agreement reached after Israel's military offensive
last summer and the opening of the Rafah crossing.

The Islamic Jihad officials were also due to discuss the kidnapping of four
Hamas members in Sinai on Aug. 19, the source said.

Egyptian officials told Ma'an that the four members were taken hostage by
the IS-affiliated Sinai Militant militant group as a bargaining chip to
force Hamas to release some 50 Salafists currently imprisoned in Gaza.

Negotiations have reportedly begun between Hamas and the militant group,
with the involvement of both Palestinian and Egyptian mediators.

The Egyptian-brokered truce came into effect on August 26, 2014, with the
sides pledging to resume indirect contacts within a month to pin down a
lasting ceasefire and discuss crunch issues. Follow-up talks were delayed
several times and never formally resumed.

In August, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, the al-Quds
Brigades, said the group would no longer continue to commit to the ceasefire
agreement if prisoner Muhammad Allan, then in the critical stages of a
hunger strike, died.