By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Invitation seen as sign of rapprochement between the rival parties; Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal due to visit Gaza for the first time; Fatah spokesman says event celebrates "victories of our people.”
Fatah
has accepted Hamas’s invitation to participate in celebrations in
the Gaza Strip marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of the
Islamist movement.
The
invitation, the first of its kind in more than a decade, is seen as
yet another sign of rapprochement between the rivals parties.
Hamas
leader Khaled Mashaal is expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip for the
first time on Friday to attend the celebrations.
On
Thursday, Mashaal’s wife and daughters arrived in the Strip
together with 15 Hamas officials.
Relatives
of slain Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari also headed from the
West Bank to the Gaza Strip via Egypt to attend the celebrations.
Jabari,
whom the IAF killed on November 14, was originally from Hebron.
Hamas
and Fatah have pledged to work hard to end their differences in the
aftermath of Operation Pillar of Defense and the UN General Assembly
vote in favor of upgrading the Palestinians’ status to nonmember
observer state.
Following
last month’s IDF air offensive in the Gaza Strip, several Fatah
officials, including Nabil Sha’ath, took part in “victory”
celebrations organized by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Last
month, Hamas banned Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip from holding
rallies on the anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat.
Fayez
Abu Aitah, a spokesman for Fatah, confirmed that his faction would
participate in the Hamas celebrations, which will be launched on
Saturday.
He
said that the Hamas anniversary comes amid a “positive and good
atmosphere following the victories of our people.”
Yehya
Rabah, a senior Fatah official in the Gaza Strip, also confirmed that
his faction would attend the Hamas celebrations.
“There
is no reason why we should not participate with our Hamas brothers in
the celebrations,” Rabah said. “This is a step forward toward
achieving reconciliation.”
Related:
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=295001
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