Palestinian reconciliation dialogue continues in Algeria awaiting agreements
The second round of the Palestinian reconciliation dialogue ended today in Algeria, with the participation of thirteen factions, to end the fifteen-year rift between the nationalist Fatah party and the Islamist Hamas movement.
The secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative Party, Mustafa Barghouti, announced that the factions, led by Fatah and Hamas, agreed on much of the terms of the Algerian reconciliation document, the most important one concerning the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Barghouti advocated a "programme of national struggle to confront the (Israeli) occupation and what the Palestinian people are exposed to", and noted that all factions "are concerned about the success of efforts to end the division".
The negotiating delegations were convened by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who is seeking to reaffirm the Palestinian cause as a common axis ahead of the Arab League summit in Algiers on 1 and 2 November.
In December 2021, Algeria's president announced his country's intention to host a conference of Palestinian factions and subsequently received delegations representing them to receive proposals for reconciliation.
Since the summer of 2007, the Palestinian cause has been politically and geographically divided, with Hamas controlling Gaza, while the West Bank is administered by a Fatah-led government monopolised by Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas.
