Hamas, Fatah Complete Agreement to End Four Year Split
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Leaders of the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic Hamas movement completed an agreement to end an almost four-year rift and establish a joint government, a move that Israeli officials say will harm prospects for peace.
Mahmoud Abbas, the authority’s president and chief of its ruling secular Fatah faction, and Khalid Mashaal, head of the Hamas movement, were presented today with a copy of the signed accord by Egyptian officials who mediated their talks. An alliance between the two groups ruptured in 2007, leaving Fatah in control of the West Bank and Hamas ruling Gaza.