Palestinian government holds meeting for first time in Gaza

CAIRO – 3 October 2017: National consensus government holds its meeting on Tuesday, led by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, for the first time in Gaza since the government was formed 2014.

In the opening statement before the meeting, Hamdallah vowed to solve all the issues related to consensus and partnership.

The Palestinian president has requested that the government practice its missions in Gaza.

“We have fixed 65 percent of the damaged houses and we will discuss employee files in meetings held in Cairo,” Hamdallah said; adding that patience and wisdom are required to restore the legislative institutions in Palestine.

He also called on the international community to pressure Israel into lifting the siege off Gaza and to end the collective punishment for Palestinians.

At the end, Hamdallah praised the role of Egypt in reconciling and ending divisions between the Gaza strip and the West Bank.

For the past few days, many indicators of Egypt’s success in reconciling Fatah and Hamas have been evident, especially after ending the division between the two.

The first of these indicators became evident on September 18, 2017; when Hamas stated its willingness to reconcile with Fatah, after a three-month period of intense negotiations in Cairo.

October 2 represented a turning point in modern Palestinian history, as it marks the end of a decade long internal split among rival factions Hamas and Fatah. The national consensus government arrived in Gaza, and delegations of Hamas and Fatah met together and announced prioritizing Palestine over factions.