(L) Ismail Haniya (R) Mahmoud Abbas
Egypt has welcomed new steps taken by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement to build Palestinian unity, the result of Cairo's efforts to end the long-running feud, Egypt's state-run news agency MENA reported on Sunday.
Hamas said on Sunday that it had dissolved its administrative committee running Gaza, making way for the arrival of officials from the unity government, who would take control of the area. Hamas said it had also agreed to hold general elections in order to end the decade-long split.
The Hamas statement was issued from Gaza on Sunday following talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo last week.
Fatah, meanwhile, said on Sunday that it welcomed the pledge by its rival Hamas to accept key conditions for reconciliation.
"Egypt welcomes the position of the Fatah and Hamas movements ... in response to the Egyptian efforts ... towards unity between the Palestinian people and ending the split," MENA said, without attributing the statement to any particular government source.
"Egypt affirms its continued efforts and contact with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and all Palestinian forces in a way that serves the Palestinian public interest and the Palestinian issue," MENA added.
In 2014, Hamas and Fatah agreed to form a national reconciliation government, but Hamas has continued to rule the Gaza Strip alone until now.
Repeated efforts since 2011 to resolve the dispute between the two movements and form a unity government in Gaza and the West Bank have come to nothing.
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