Fatah officials to head to Gaza for unity talks with Hamas

The announcement came as a senior PLO delegation headed by Azzam al-Ahmed was expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Abbas and Hamas leader 300 (photo credit: Reuters)
Abbas and Hamas leader 300
(photo credit: Reuters)
Hamas and Fatah have resumed their efforts to achieve reconciliation, they announced on Monday.
The announcement came as a senior PLO delegation headed by Azzam al-Ahmed was expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip for talks with Hamas leaders on the formation of a Palestinian unity government.
“We are going to the Gaza Strip not to make new proposals but to end the division,” Ahmed said. The two sides would discuss the formation of a unity government, holding presidential and parliamentary elections and the reconstruction of the PLO, he said.
Ahmed said that his delegation would consist of leaders of five Palestinian factions that belong to the PLO.
The renewed efforts to end the Hamas-Fatah rivalry came as senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk arrived in the Gaza Strip from Egypt.
Abu Marzouk received permission from the Egyptian authorities to cross into the Gaza Strip in order to participate in the reconciliation talks with Fatah.