Erdogan hosts PA's Abbas, Hamas' Haniyeh in Ankara

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together with Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan's office said.

Abbas is paying a visit to Türkiye and had previously met with Erdogan on Tuesday.

Abbas and Haniyeh have been unable to repair a rift since 2007, when Hamas, which opposes peace deals with Israel, in control of the besieged Gaza. Abbas' Palestinian Authority remains dominant in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

On Tuesday, Abbas agreed with Haniyeh, who currently resides between Qatar and Türkiye, to hold a broad meeting of factions in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, at the end of July, to discuss the conflict with Israel and ways to end internal divisions.

Palestinians in the besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank held little hope the meetings could reconcile the ongoing power struggle between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah faction, the backbone of the Palestinian Authority, after many failed attempts in the past 16 years.

In a statement issued by Hamas on Wednesday, the group said its leaders reaffirmed in Tuesday's meeting with Abbas that "resistance was the most efficient way to confront the (Israeli) occupation."