The two main Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas convened meetings in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a new effort to promote reconciliation, officials from both factions said. "The reconciliation committee including Fatah and Hamas will convene today for the first time in Ramallah and Gaza to look for ways to ease tensions and pave the way for the next round of dialogue," Ibrahim Abu al-Naja, a senior Fatah leader in Gaza, told AFP. Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, confirmed the meeting.
"The committee is aiming to remove all obstacles before arriving at the announcement of a final agreement on the seventh of next month," al-Naja said.
"The committee will study how to resolve the issue of political detainees in the West Bank and halting the targeting of the resistance, the closing of institutions and media campaigns," senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan said for his part.
