HAMAS-FATAH AGREEMENT ON GAZA HAILED

CAIRO Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas reached a preliminary agreement Thursday that could return the Gaza Strip to President Mahmoud Abbas’ control and ease a decade-old Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the coastal territory.

“This is the dream and the ambition of every patriotic and honourable Palestinian, to reach unification,” said Ramallah resident Jawad Abu Shaikha.

A senior Palestinian official said Abbas, the leader of Fatah, might visit Gaza in the coming weeks, depending on the successful implementation of the agreement.

The Western-backed Abbas hasn’t set foot in Gaza since 2007.