Agencies-Gaza post
Palestinian president, head of Hamas hold rare meetings
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met publicly for the first time in over five years, on the sidelines of the celebrations for the anniversary of Algeria’s independence.
The Algerian state broadcaster reported late Tuesday that representatives of the Palestinian Authority and the Islamist movement Hamas also attended this meeting, which it called “historic”.
The couple, who last officially met face-to-face in Doha in October 2016, reunited in a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, whose country marked the 60th anniversary of independence from France.
Abbas’ secular Fatah party, which dominates the Palestinian Authority which rules the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has been in conflict with Hamas since the 2007 elections, when Islamists took control of Gaza.
Tebboune and Abbas also signed a document to call a street “Algeria” in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
In addition to Abbas and Haniyeh, Tebboune hosted several foreign dignitaries on Tuesday, who attended a huge military parade to celebrate independence in 1962, when Algeria liberated itself from 132 years of French occupation.
