Abbas meets Hamas representatives in Ramallah

President Mahmoud Abbas met with Hamas representatives in his Ramallah headquarters on Monday to discuss the latest regional developments. Abbas discussed the recent Cairo meetings and possible formation of a new national council to give all Palestinian factions a chance to participate in reconciliation. The president expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of bi-lateral meetings between Fatah and Hamas on Dec. 18 and 19 in Cairo. Nasser al-Shaer, a former Hamas official in the West Bank, said that the meeting discussed ways to implement the reconciliation deal in "real life." Both parties need to speed up the implementation of what they have already agreed upon, he said.