PLO negotiating reconciliation with Hamas

On Tuesday a delegation from the Palestinian Liberation Organization arrived in the occupied Gaza strip to negotiate unity with Hamas for the first time since 2007, media sources reports. The reconciliation effort coincides with Fatah's meetings with the Israelis to extend the peace negotiations beyond their previous 29th of April deadline.It is hard to predict what effect a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah would mean, as it could both give Abbas further negotiation power in the talks with the Israelis, but at the same time provoke them to take actions against the PLO in the West Bank. The Egyptian-brokered unity agreement of 2011 has not been implemented due to disagreements over power-sharing and how to approach Israel.When addressed with the question if the PLO primarily engaged in reconciliation with Hamas at this point in time to strengthen their hand in the negotiations with Israel, senior Fatah official, Azzam Al-Ahmed, replied; "We want to end the division whether there is negotiation or there isn't. We want to build Gaza and the West Bank and end the occupation," and further that; "We are one country, one people and no power on earth could dismantle this holy bond [...]"If a reconciliation deal was made it would not only strengthen Fatah, but also the whole Gaza strip would benefit by becoming less isolated. Even though the two sides disagree on a number of issues, the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, was quoted to say that; ""We must conclude national reconciliation and end the division so we can have one government, one political national agenda and one system [...] There is no room for failure at this dialogue.