For the first time in almost six years, the chairman of the Palestinian administration Mahmoud Abbas and the leader Hamas Ismail Khania met and shook hands. The meeting took place in Algeria.
Israeli “details” write that this is a short, but, according to Algerian television, “historical” meeting after the year of coolness in relations, took place on the initiative of President Algeria Abd al-Majid Tabun during the festive events dedicated to the Independence Day of this Arab North African state. The meeting was attended by other representatives of the Palestinian administration and Hamas, but it is not reported that the parties were discussing.
The previous meeting of Abu Mazen and Ismail Khania took place in Qatar in 2016 with the participation of the then leader Hamas Haled Mashal.
The split between Fath and Hamas occurred in 2007, when Fath lost the election in the gas sector and the power in this Palestinian enclave passed to Hamas. Over the years, several attempts to reconcile between the parties have been made, but they were unsuccessful.