The Hamas government on Monday announced that it has given permission for
holding celebrations in the Gaza Strip marking the 48th anniversary of the
founding of Fatah.
The government said that decision to allow the Fatah
celebrations for the first time since 2007 was in the context of efforts to pave
the way for achieving reconciliation between the two parties.
The
government instructed Hamas security forces to allocate places for holding the
Fatah celebrations.
The announcement came shortly after Fatah leaders
expressed regret over Hamas’s refusal to allow the celebrations to take place in
the area known as Al-Katibah west of Gaza City.
This is the same area
where Hamas recently held a mass rally marking the 25th anniversary of the
establishment of the Islamist movement.