8 (Xinhua) Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye announced on Monday that Palestine will keep documenting violations and crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people.
Egypt on Tuesday opened its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza strip until further notice, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said, a move described as an incentive for reconciliation between the main Palestinian factions, meeting in Cairo.
CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - Egypt on Tuesday opened its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza strip until further notice, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said, a move described as an incentive for reconciliation between the main Palestinian factions, meeting in Cairo. Leaders of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas s Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank, and of Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that opposes any negotiations with Israel, began Egyptian-brokered talks on Monday to address long-standing divisions ahead of elections planned for later this year. The 365-sq km (141-sq mile) Gaza strip, controlled by Hamas, is home to around 2 million Palestinians. An Israeli-led blockade has put restrictions on the movement of people and goods for years. Egypt had been opening the Rafah crossing for only a few days at a time to allow stranded travellers to pass. The crossing was opened early on Tuesday and a bus carrying Palestinians arrived in Egypt, two Egyptian sources at the crossing sa
Abbasâs Call For Palestinian Elections Puts His Political Future in Peril Published February 9th, 2021 - 07:12 GMT
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Shutterstock)
Highlights
Even a government of independents supported by Hamas could pose problems for Western donors.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbasâs call for elections has thrown his political future into peril, forcing him to negotiate competing demands to engage with a friendlier US administration, mend the rift with his militant Hamas rivals and keep his unruly Fatah movement from breaking apart.
The presidential decree issued last month, calling for what would be the first Palestinian elections in 15 years, stemmed from negotiations launched with Hamas last year aimed at shoring up ranks in the face of unprecedented crises.
Jordan s military has told King Abdullah s half-brother Prince Hamza bin Hussein to halt actions targeting security and stability in what.
The crossing was opened early on Tuesday and a bus carrying Palestinians arrived in Egypt, two Egyptian sources at the crossing said.
Rafah will remain open “until further notice”, one source at the checkpoint and an Egyptian security source said.
The Palestinian embassy in Cairo said Egypt had decided to open the crossing as a result of “intensive and bilateral talks between the Palestinian and Egyptian leaderships to facilitate the passage of Palestinians to and from the Gaza Strip”.
Palestinian sources attending the Cairo talks said they had been told by Egyptian intelligence officials that the move was designed to create a better atmosphere at the negotiations.