Palestian President Mahmoud Abbbas and Khaled Mashal, head of the poliburo of Hamas, will meet in Mecca in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a bid to end the ongoing infighting between these two main rival parties.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mashal, head of the politburo of Hamas, will meet in Mecca in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a bid to end the ongoing infighting between these two main rival parties.
The two are expected to discuss the ongoing clashes between Fatah and Hamas, and ways in which to end these clashes that have been met with a serious condemnation by all other Palestinian facitons.
At least nineteen Palestinians have been killed so far in the clashes that erupted between Fatah and Hamas following the fragile cease-fire declared on Monday.
There have been several calls for the two parties to end the fighting and negotiate a national unity government.
These calls came from several Palestinian and Arab figures and also from the Palestinian streets. Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets in several Palestinian cities demanding an end to the ongoing infighting. In spite of several violations, the cease-fire managed to hold for a few days, during which Israel assassinated two Al-Aqsa Brigade fighters in Nablus and one child in Qalandia.
Israeli forces also invaded Jenin and several other West Bank areas and abducted dozens of Palestinians. Overall, 26 Palestinians were killed during this week, seven of them by Israeli forces, whereas the rest were killed during factional infighting.
The cease-fire was terminated on Thursday after the clash that erupted between the Executive force of the Ministry of Interior and the Fatah affiliated Presidential Guards. The clash erupted when the Executive force insisted on checking trucks guarded by the Presidential guards claiming that they were carrying weapons.
The Presidential guards and Fatah leaders insisted that they were not carrying weapons, but other supplies.