Hamas and its rival Fatah announced on Monday that they have agreed to hold another round of reconciliation meetings in Damascus next week.
Speaking to the Xinhua News Service, Hamas’ spokesman in Gaza Ayman Taha said that the two movements will meet on November 9. The meeting will be attended by two delegations of the two movements, as well as experts in security affairs. Taha added that Hamas representatives from Gaza may also join the meeting.
Chief of Fatah delegation Azzam al-Ahmad confirmed the meeting as well, reported the Palestinian Authority-run news agency Wafa.
The two groups were to have met in Damascus on October 24, but the meeting was postponed following political disputes between Syria and the Palestinian Authority.
“There were indirect contacts held between Fatah and the Syrian leadership, where both had reiterated on their concerns to deepen the ties between them and removing all obstacles that would obstruct coordination between them,” al-Ahmad told Wafa, and stressed that the upcoming meeting in Damascus will focus on the security issue.
Hamas and Fatah have been at odds with one another since Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Last month, Hamas terrorists threatened to target Fatah heads, after the Palestinian Authority conducted a wave of arrests of Hamas operatives, following a wave of deadly terror attacks against Israelis in early September.
Hamas was also infuriated when a PA court sentenced a Hamas man to 20 years in prison for firing on PA troops, and accused the PA of "treason" over the sentencing and of acting "like Israel."
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, accused Iran of preventing PA unity, saying that Iran is dictating Hamas' agenda, and has decided against reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.