Fatah, Hamas Members to Visit Moscow in January for Reconciliation Talks

Palestinian political parties Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow in January to discuss divisions between them and work the ways of overcoming the current situation.

GAZA (Sputnik) — The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences will organize a meeting of Palestinian political parties Hamas and Fatah to facilitate the discussion of the perspectives of overcoming the strife between them, Kayed Ghul, a member of Fatah political bureau said Tuesday.

"The Institute of Oriental Studies sent us an invitation for the meeting on January 15-17," Ghul told RIA Novosti adding that the delegation was expecting to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his deputy Mikhail Bogdanov.

He added that the discussion would touch on "the issue of Palestinian divisions and the ways of overcoming the current situation."

The previous meeting under the Institute of Oriental Studies mediation took place in 2011.

Fatah was the dominating party in Palestine until Hamas arose as a resistance movement against Israeli occupation in 1987. In 2007, a deadly conflict between Fatah and Hamas led to the split of the Palestinian Authority and the latter taking over the Gaza Strip.