Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Palestinian groups Fatah, Hamas meet for reconciliation talks

Palestinian groups Fatah, Hamas meet for reconciliation talks

Algiers is the latest to broker an agreement between rival factions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The leaders of rival Palestinian groups are meeting in Algeria for two-day talks aimed at discussing a proposal for reconciliation and national unity.

The proposal was drawn up after “months of effort by Algeria to reach a common vision for boosting the Palestinian national action”, Palestinian ambassador Fayez Abu Aita said on Saturday.

Representatives of 12 Palestinian groups, including rival Hamas and Fatah movements, will be attending, Abu Aita told the official broadcaster Palestine Voice Radio.

The initiative is the latest attempt to solve a years-long rift that has caused division and undermined the people’s trust in the Palestinian leadership.

Among the contentious points to be discussed is the future of Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigade, which both Fatah and Israel want to see completely disarmed.

The two sides will discuss the payment of salaries to 30,000 Hamas employees in the Gaza Strip, as well as how to move forward with long-overdue Palestinian elections – the first to be held since 2006.


‘Vested interests’


In the occupied Palestinian territories, few expect a significant breakthrough. Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed, reporting from Gaza, said many residents were sceptical about the talks’ success in dissipating conflict.

“Past talks have failed despite the disagreements being far less than what they are now,” ElSayed said. “People here see that Hamas’s control over the Gaza Strip is not something it would easily let go of.”

The political rivalry has fractured the Palestinian territories since 2006, when Hamas won a surprising landslide election victory in the Gaza Strip, defeating Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party.

Armed conflict broke out after Fatah refused to recognise the election results, resulting in the party’s removal from the besieged strip.

The Palestinian leadership has since been divided, with a Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) governing the occupied West Bank and Hamas running the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah in the West Bank, said recent polls suggested two-thirds of Palestinians did not believe that reconciliation efforts would not succeed in changing the reality on the ground.

“Palestinians believe both parties have vested interests in keeping the situation as it is,” Ibrahim said.

Past efforts brokered by Yemen and Egypt failed to end the rift between the two rival movements.


Intensifying Israeli raids


Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune launched the initiative to unite the Palestinians in January. Algerian officials held separate dialogues with officials from Fatah and Hamas to discuss the outlines of the proposal in advance of the talks.

The talks come amid intensifying Israeli raids in occupied territories that resulted in the killing of more than 100 Palestinians this year. Israel has justified its security operations in the West Bank following a spate of deadly Palestinian street attacks in Israel.

The PA governor of Nablus said on Tuesday that the escalation of violence reflects a complete breakdown of trust in a political solution amid daily confrontations with troops and Israeli settlers.

Israeli officials blame the PA for failing to control factions including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movement, which have called on Israel to remove the blockade of the enclave and end its occupation of Palestinian territories.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who will face an election on November 1, has backed a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

But successive Israeli governments have expanded settler expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories in violation of international law. There are at least 250 illegal settlements in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem housing 600,000-750,000 Israeli settlers.

Palestinians say the unchecked settlement expansion will make the reality of an independent Palestinian state unviable.



Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×