GAZA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Prime minister of the Hamas authority in Gaza, Ismail Haneya, will visit Egypt Wednesday and meet Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to discuss lifting the blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
It will be the first meeting between the Hamas official and the Egyptian president.
A Hamas official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that Haneya will bring up a plan to settle several crises that were aggravated when former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak cooperated with Israel in shutting Gaza crossings after Hamas took over the territory in 2007.
The issues Haneya wants to discuss and hopes to resolve include electricity, fuel, underground smuggling and the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip, according to the official.
The ministers of foreign affairs, economy and housing of the Hamas authority and some lawmakers will accompany Haneya as part of a 18-person delegation. The visit will last for four days.
The official said Haneya will seek a full opening of Rafah crossing point on Gaza-Egypt border, the only gate for Gaza travelers that bypasses Israel. Hamas also hopes to establish a free trade zone between Gaza and Egypt.
When the blockade was imposed, Hamas depended on a network of tunnels under Gaza's southern border with Egypt to bring in all goods, food and fuel. The demand for the tunnels has decreased as Israel has been taking steps to ease Gaza blockade since 2010.
After Mubarak was toppled in early 2011, more facilities were applied on the movement of Gazans through Rafah, but Hamas wants the crossing to open 24 hours per day without any restriction.
The stalled Palestinian national reconciliation has little space on Haneya's agenda, as his main goal is to lift the blockade and ease burdens on his administration, the official said.
Hamas wrested control of Gaza from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority has been confined to the West Bank since then.
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