Hamas and Fatah Agree to Revive Direct Talks

Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a Yemeni-sponsored deal Sunday promising to revive direct talks after months of hostilities, but differences remained over the future of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

The two factions reconvened in Sanaa earlier in the day after the talks, launched last week by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, came close to collapse several times.

"We, the representatives of Fatah and Hamas, agree to the Yemeni initiative as a framework to resume dialogue between the two movements to return the Palestinian situation to what it was before the Gaza incidents," a declaration issued after the meeting said.

While analysts believe the decision to talk is an important step forward, there are still outstanding issues that could scupper negotiations, and they caution that previous agreements have collapsed.

The Sanaa Declaration, signed by top Hamas negotiator Moussa Abu Marzouk and senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed, also affirmed the "unity of the Palestinian people, territory and authority".

The Yemeni initiative calls for the situation in Gaza to return to the way it was before Hamas seized the area in June after routing Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The violence left Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah in control of the West Bank and entrenched divisions as the two movements vied for power and influence among the 4 million Palestinians in the two areas separated by Israel.

Fatah had said it would agree to direct reconciliation talks with Hamas only if the Islamist group first agreed to relinquish its hold on Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. Moscow Times