Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was photographed shaking hands with rival Ismail Haniyeh at Algeria’s Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday in what is their first documented meeting since 2016.
Abbas and Haniyeh were both guests of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the celebration of Algeria’s 60th anniversary. While they sat separately during the ceremony, they were photographed together shaking hands in a photo with the Algerian president.
#Algeria- Head of the #Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh, #Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Algerian President Tebboune. pic.twitter.com/MfYGmrLkiF
— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) July 5, 2022
Algerian television called the meeting "historic," noting that it took place after years of tension between the parties. Additional representatives from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas attended the meeting, but it was not stated what they discussed.
A tumultuous relationship
Abbas and Haniyeh’s last meeting took place in Qatar in 2016, when the two sides met to discuss reconciliation between Hamas and the PA (Fatah). Abbas’s PA administers the West Bank region, while Hamas governs the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas have been in direct opposition since Hamas’s takeover of Gaza amid their 2006 election win. While the PA is more directly involved in cooperation with Israel in regards to security, commerce and other common interests, Hamas aims to overthrow the “Zionist regime” and thus does not directly engage with or recognize the State of Israel.
Last year, Abbas indefinitely postponed elections in the West Bank – the first that was set to take place since Hamas won in 2006. Abbas said the election, which has yet to be rescheduled, is on hold until Israel allows the vote to take place in Jerusalem – though critics have accused the PA president of refusing to relinquish his position of power.