Palestine's Fatah, Hamas sign 'historic' reconciliation deal in Algeria

Palestinian factions have signed an agreement in Algiers aimed at resolving 15 years of discord by holding elections within a year after months of talks mediated by Algeria.

The deal, signed on Thursday, aims to end a rift between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and Hamas that has split Palestinian governance in besieged Gaza from the occupied West Bank and hindered Palestinian ambitions of complete independence from Israeli occupation.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, senior Fatah official Azzam al Ahmad vowed the agreement "will be implemented and will not remain a dead letter", describing the years of division as a "cancer."

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said it was "a day of joy in Palestine and Algeria and for those who love the Palestinian cause, but a day of sadness for the Zionist entity (Israel)".

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune hailed the agreement as "historic."

He noted in a speech at the signing ceremony in the Algerian capital's Palace of Nations that Yasser Arafat had used the same building to announce the independence of the State of Palestine in 1988.

The deal was signed with pomp and ceremony in the presence of foreign ambassadors and a military band that played the Palestinian and Algerian national anthems.

"We appreciate Algeria's contributions to the intra-Palestinian reconciliation process that Türkiye has always supported," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

Deal recognises PLO as sole voice of Palestine

Under Thursday's "Algiers Declaration", also signed by other major Palestinian factions, elections will take place for the presidency and for the Palestinian Legislative Council, which acts as a parliament for Palestinians in the occupied territories.

It also stipulates elections for the Palestinian National Council, a parliament for Palestinians including the millions-strong diaspora. Algeria agreed to host the council.

The delegations, however, did not agree to form a unity government.

The division between Palestinian factions, triggered after Hamas won a legislative election in 2006, has prevented any further elections since then.

The deal also recognised the Palestine Liberation Organisation, of which Abbas is the head, as the sole representative of the Palestinian people, and called for elections to its national council within a year.

The leaders of 14 factions, including Fatah and Hamas, held two days of talks in the run-up to an Arab League summit in Algiers next month after months of Algerian mediation.