Gaza: Massive Fatah Rally Latest Sign of Hamas Reconciliation

January 04, 2013 from Euronews

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been taking part in a rare rally staged by President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group in Gaza. The demonstration marks 48 years since the secular Fatah's founding as the spearhead of the Palestinians' fight against Israel. But such a show of force was unimaginable six months ago. A long hiatus in peace talks with Israel has seen Fatah narrow its differences with its political rival Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2007. Solidarity has also deepened since Israel's Gaza assault in November.

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Fatah

Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a multi-party confederation. Fatah is generally considered to have had a strong involvement in revolutionary struggle in the past and has maintained a number of milit... Explore this topic

Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas, also known by the kunya Abu Mazen, an Arab of the Sunni-Muslim faith, has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket. Mahmoud... Explore this topic

Gaza

The Gaza Strip is a territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea that borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. It is 41 kilometres long, and from 6 to 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of 365 square kilometres. The population of Gaza Stri... Explore this topic

Hamas

Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist organization, with an associated military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, located in the Palestinian territories. Since June 2007 Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip, after it won a majority of seats in the Palestinian ... Explore this topic

President of the Palestinian National Authority

The President of the Palestinian National Authority is the highest-ranking political position in the Palestinian National Authority. The President appoints the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority from the Palestinian Legislative Council, with whom he shares po... Explore this topic

Operation Pillar of Defense

Operation Pillar of Defense (Hebrew: עמוד ענן‎, Amud Annan) is an ongoing Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip, launched on 14 November 2012. In response to over a hundred rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israeli cities over a four-day period,... Explore this topic

Gaza City

Gaza, also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories. Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC, Gaza has been dominated by several different peoples and e... Explore this topic

Governance of the Gaza Strip

ガザ政府（ガザせいふ）は、パレスチナ自治区ガザ地区を実効支配しているイスラーム主義組織ハマース単独の政府である。 Explore this topic

Palestinians

The Culture of Palestine is closely related to those of the nearby Levantine countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, and the Arab World. Cultural contributions to the fields of art, literature, music, costume and cuisine express the Palestinian experience despite the geo... Explore this topic

Gaza–Israel conflict

The Gaza–Israel conflict is an ongoing dispute within the frame of the long-term Israeli–Palestinian conflict, in the territory of the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel. The dispute has initiated in its current form in summer 2006 and is considered low level ongoing, though Hamas... Explore this topic

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