Cairo, Oct 12 (AFP) Rival Palestinian factions Hamas andFatah today signed an agreement on ending a decade-long splitfollowing talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with PalestinianAuthority President Mahmud Abbas calling it a "final" accord.
Under the agreement, the West Bank-based PalestinianAuthority is to resume full control of the Hamas-controlledGaza Strip by December 1, according to a statement fromEgypt's intelligence agency, which oversaw the talks.
Abbas welcomed the deal in comments to AFP and said heconsidered it a "final agreement to end the division" --though many details remain to be resolved and previousreconciliation attempts have repeatedly failed.
It was signed in Cairo by new Hamas deputy leader Salahal-Aruri and Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah delegationfor the talks.
Negotiations are now expected to be held on forming aunity government, with the various Palestinian politicalmovements invited to another meeting in Cairo on November 21.
An official from Abbas's Fatah movement said thePalestinian president was planning to soon travel to the GazaStrip as part of the unity bid in what would be his firstvisit in a decade.
Sanctions taken by Abbas against Hamas-controlled Gazawill also soon be lifted, the Fatah official said.
The deal includes 3,000 members of the West Bank-basedPalestinian Authority's police force redeploying to Gaza, amember of the negotiating team said on condition of anonymity.
The figure is however a fraction of the more than 20,000police officers employed separately by Hamas.
Another party to the negotiations, speaking on conditionof anonymity, said the agreement would see PalestinianAuthority forces take control of the Rafah border crossingbetween Gaza and Egypt.
One of the key issues has been punitive measures taken byAbbas against Gaza in recent months, including reducingelectricity payments that left the territory's residents withonly a few hours of power a day.
"All the measures taken recently will end very shortly,"Zakaria al-Agha, a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip, toldAFP.
The two sides had been meeting in the Egyptian capitalthis week with the aim of ending the crippling decade-oldsplit between the rival factions.
Hamas seized Gaza from Fatah in a near civil war in 2007and the two factions have been at loggerheads ever since.
Multiple previous reconciliation efforts have failed.
Egypt has been keen to improve security in the SinaiPeninsula which borders Gaza and where jihadist rebels havefought a long-running insurgency.
An Egyptian source close to the talks said intelligencechief Khaled Fawzi had followed the negotiations closely.
Last month, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza tothe Palestinian Authority but the fate of its vast militarywing remains a significant issue for the two sides.
Islamist movement Hamas is blacklisted as a terroristorganisation by the United States and the European Union.
It has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and theblockaded Gaza Strip has seen deteriorating humanitarianconditions.
Faced with increasing isolation and a severe electricityshortage, Hamas has reached out to Egypt for help, hoping tohave the Rafah border opened.
The crossing has remained largely closed in recent years.
Egypt has also agreed to provide fuel to the Gaza Stripfor electricity generation.
In return, Cairo pressed Hamas to move forward onreconciliation with Fatah.
Previous attempts at reconciliation have repeatedlyfailed, and many analysts are treating the latest bid withcaution, waiting to see if actual change will occur on theground.
Last week, Palestinian Authority prime minister RamiHamdallah visited Gaza for the first time since 2015 and hisministers took formal control of government departments in theterritory.
But the move was seen as mainly symbolic, with Hamasstill effectively in charge in the Palestinian enclave of twomillion people bordered by Egypt, Israel and the MediterraneanSea.
One of the key sticking points will be the fate ofHamas's 25,000-strong military wing, the Ezzedine al-QassamBrigades.
Reconciliation could also pose a dilemma forinternational efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peacedeal since Hamas has not recognised Israel, unlike the Abbas-led Palestine Liberation Organisation. (AFP)ZH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.