Hamas, Fatah meet in Turkey for reconciliation talks

The two-day meeting will take place in Istanbul and aims to implement the outcomes of earlier meetings between leaders of the rival factions, which took place in Ramallah and Beirut earlier this month.

The talks will involve face-to-face attendees, as well as others on video call, including Fatah's Secretary of Executive Committee Jibril Rajoub and the movement's senior member Rawhi Fattouh from the Gaza Strip.

From Hamas, prominent leaders Saleh al-Arouri and Husam Badran are expected to attend, among others.

"Hamas is keen on achieving national unity in the hope of reaching a comprehensive national strategy to face the challenges and plots that target the Palestinian cause," Hayya said a statement obtained by The New Arab's Arabic language service.

Tuesday's meeting will address presidential and legislative votes and an announcement on the date for general elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be expected to follow, a Palestinian source confirmed to The New Arab’s Arabic language service.

"If the meeting is successful, President Mahmoud Abbas will issue a presidential decree within the following days announcing the date for a general election," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

"The decree will be expected to be issued ahead of his speech at the UN General Assembly on September 25."

During their meeting earlier this month, Fatah and Hamas agreed to a host of issues, including healing the rift between the two political parties and upholding the principle of peaceful transfer of power through elections, based on proportional representation.

Fatah spokesman Mounir Al-Jaghoub tweeted that his group's delegation will meet with Hamas representatives to discuss ending Palestinian political divisions and the application of outcomes of the 3 September meeting.

On Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan via a telephone call, in which he asked for his help in the ongoing talks, according to the official Wafa news agency.

Tuesday's talks come days after the UAE and Bahrain signed US-brokered agreements to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

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