Sources in the various Palestinian Authority Arab factions on Wednesday morning told Lebanon's Al Akhbar newspaper that Hamas and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah have reached an agreement on the annexation, Israel Hayom reported.
Al Akhbar has ties to the Hezbollah terror group.
Under the agreement, Hamas and Fatah will conduct several activities to present a united front in their battle to bring down "plans of annexing the West Bank," and they "will present a single Palestinian stance." However, the two warring factions will not take further steps to heal the 13-year rift between themselves.
Among the activities planned is a large central conference in Gaza, in addition to the conferences and parades planned for later dates. According to the report, the sources said that both factions have understood that the PA needs to present a unified stance to the European Union (EU) in order to allow them to take a stronger stance against the Trump administration's plan, which they believe is trying to force the facts on the ground.
As a result, thanks to messages from the EU to the PA, the PA has now begun efforts to draw closer to Hamas. Senior PA official Saeb Erekat has noted that the split creates a gap which allows Israel and the US to implement sovereignty.
Hamas sources also told Al Akhbar that the terror group is aiming to create an agreement with Fatah which will be based on joint diplomatic plans to fight Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Due to this, Hamas official Husam Badran said that the Gaza conference will support the creation of an agreement between the factions.
"The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) can still accept new parties," he said, noting that neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad are members of the PLO.
