Fatah official refuses to reveal trip's purpose, but indicates that delegation may also meet with Hamas officials.
By JPOST.COM STAFFSenior Fatah member Nabil Shaath_390(photo credit: Reuters)
A high-level Fatah delegation from the West Bank will hold talks with their Fatah counterparts and other factions in Gaza as part of a Gaza visit on Wednesday, Ma'an News Agency reported.The report cites senior officials Muhammad Al-Madani, Nabil Shaath and Amin Maqboul as leading the delegation.Al-Madani reportedly refused to reveal the purpose of the trip, but indicated that the delegation may also meet with Hamas officials.Another Fatah official, Atif Abu Seif, told Ma'an that the Fatah delegation's dual goals were to address certain internal issues between Fatah in the West Bank and Gaza as well as to advance reconciliation efforts between Fatah and other Palestinian parties. Hamas's Gaza spokesman Tahir An-Nunu said Tuesday that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had spoken to Shaath and welcomed the Fatah officials to Gaza.Since Hamas took over control of Gaza from Fatah in 2007, the two parties have alternated between near civil war and efforts at full reconciliation.The parties signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo in May 2011, but unity efforts have mosty remained in word only as there has been almost no change on the ground in moving towards a unity government.
