Factions meet in Gaza to discuss reconciliation

Representatives of various Palestinian political parties held a meeting on Thursday evening in Gaza to discuss negotiations and national reconciliation. Palestinian People's Party lawmaker Bassam al-Salhi briefed the representatives on the possible results of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations during the meeting, and revealed the details of a letter he sent to President Mahmoud Abbas in this regard. Al-Salhi said the letter included six main principles that should be upheld including preserving a state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, the refusal of any Israeli presence on Palestinian lands, the release all Palestinian prisoner from Israeli jails, and ensuring a fair resolution issue of the refugees' right of return. Fatah spokesman Fayiz Abu Aita said that there is an unanimity over the importance of achieving national reconciliation between the national factions, and on called Hamas to accept Fatah's recent initiative in order to push reconciliation forward. The meeting comes amid ongoing unity talks between the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah. The division between the two Palestinian factions began in 2006, when Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections. In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of theoccupied West Bank. The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.