Hamas agrees to resolve split with Fatah

Will dissolve rival government to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas

Hamas said Sunday it had agreed to steps toward resolving a decade-long split with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah, announcing it would dissolve a body seen as a rival government and was ready to hold elections.

The statement comes after Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian officials last week, and with the Gaza Strip run by the Palestinian Islamist movement facing a mounting humanitarian crisis.

Hamas said it had agreed to key demands made by Fatah: dissolving the socalled “administrative committee” created in March, while saying it was ready for elections and negotiations toward a unity government.

It called on the Palestinian Authority government based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank “to come to Gaza to exercise its functions and carry out its duties immediately.”

It was unclear, however, whether the steps would result in further concrete action toward ending the deep division with Fatah.

Hamas for now continues to run a de facto separate administration in the Gaza Strip and is in charge of the security forces there.

Previous attempts to resolve the split have repeatedly failed.

Abbas’s Fatah welcomed the announcement, saying it followed “extensive meetings” between its own representatives and Egyptian intelligence officials.

Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said a bilateral meeting with Hamas would be organized to begin working out a way forward.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for around a decade, while its border with Egypt has also remained largely closed in recent years. Israel says its blockade is necessary to stop Hamas from obtaining weapons or materials that could be used to make them.

Abbas is currently in New York for the UN General Assembly meeting, where he is set to speak on Wednesday.

UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said: “I welcome the recent statement by Hamas announcing the dissolving of the administrative committee in Gaza and agreement to allow the government of national consensus to assume its responsibilities in Gaza.”

“It is critical that the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza, most notably the crippling electricity crisis, be addressed as a priority.”