Jibril Rajoub
Jibril RajoubReuters

Jabril Rajoub, secretary-general of the executive committee of the Fatah movement, said on Monday that his organization had reached an agreement with Hamas on holding a joint event against Israel in the Gaza Strip in the coming days.

Rajoub said that "the event will be a historic milestone in formulating a united Palestinian position against the pursuit of the elimination of the Palestinian issue through the annexation plan and the Deal of the Century".

"It is very important to sound the united voice of the Palestinians which insists on the establishment of an independent state within the 1967 borders and the return of refugees in accordance with international legitimate decisions, under the leadership of the PLO," he added.

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas is expected to deliver a speech at the event in Gaza, for the first time in years.

The date and place of the event have not yet been determined, and the issue is still under discussion with Hamas. The discussions are led chaired by Fatah Central Committee member Ahmad Hiles.

Fatah, which controls the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, and Hamas that runs the Gaza Strip have been plagued by divisions for more than a decade.

Hamas has been ruling Gaza since 2007, when it overtook the coastal enclave from Fatah in a bloody coup.

Since then, the two groups have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry. The two organizations signed a reconciliation deal in October of 2017, under which the PA was to have resumed full control of Gaza by December of that year.

That deadline, however, was initially put back by 10 days, had later reportedly hit “obstacles”, and has never been implemented.

However, the two rival groups recently held a rare joint press conference in which they pledged a united campaign against Israel's prospective plans to apply sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria.