Fatah and Hamas are set to cooperate on issues regarding Israel's plans to apply sovereignty to part of the West Bank, Palestinian officials told Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday. They did not say whether this would signal a rapprochement that would end the 13-year acrimony between the rival Palestinian factions.
Senior Fatah and Hamas officials met in Gaza on Tuesday to discuss a joint rally they plan to schedule in the coming days, Saudi television outlet Al-Resalah reported.
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"This will open a new era of relations between Hamas and Fatah," said Hussam Badran, a senior Hamas official.
Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the EU, US, Israel, and several other countries, ousted Abbas' Fatah-led government from the Gaza Strip in a military coup in 2007, effectively splitting the Palestinian territories into two political entities. All efforts made over the past decade to promote a reconciliation between the rival Palestinian factions – the latest brokered by Egypt in late 2017 – have failed.
Despite a possible speech by Mahmoud Abbas, many Palestinians remain deeply skeptical about the willingness of the two sides to reach an agreement.
Earlier this month, the rival movements pledged to "unite" against Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank.
During a rare joint press conference, Fatah and Hamas, respectively in power in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, had said they wanted to "turn a new leaf," but offered no details on how this may be done.
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