MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Russia’s foreign ministry is in close contact with Palestine’s various movements with an eye of organizing another intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"Senior officials of the Russian foreign ministry have been having very close contacts with representatives of various Palestinian movements since February," she said. "We hope that these contacts will be crowned by another intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow. We believe it will help reach an agreement on the restoration of national unity on the political platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization."
"We are convinced that bridging the gap between Ramallah and the Gaza Strip is a key condition for establishing sustainable direct Palestinian-Israeli talks aiming comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the generally recognized international laws, including corresponding resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, and the Arab Peace Initiative," Zakharova stressed.
The spokeswoman noted that some journalists tended to decontextualize Russia’s contacts with representatives of the Palestinian movements rather than have a general view of them. :Indeed, I would like to ask to be oriented towards what I have just said, i.e. towards a comprehensive, all-embracing attitude to Russia’s efforts concerning a meeting with representatives of various Palestinian political forces and to the goals Russia is pursuing," she added.
The conflict between two major Palestinian political parties, Fatah and Hamas, broke out after the 2006 parliamentary elections, won by Hamas. Following the 2007 coup, Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip, actually splitting the Sate of Palestine in two parts - the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-controlled West Bank.
The rival factions signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo in the autumn of 2017. The parties agreed that the National Accord Government would assume all powers over all Palestinian territories. The transfer of control over the Rafah Border Crossing on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the West Bank authorities was due to take place as well. Later on, the factions held a few more rounds of talks in Cairo on forming the new government, organizing the elections, reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization and deploying the Palestinian administration’s forces in Gaza. However, the inter-Palestinian reconciliation process once again stalled because of constantly emerging disagreements.
Following a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement of the spring 2014, the Palestinian Unity Government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was sworn to office. The government was tasked to organize presidential and parliamentary polls on the Palestinian territories. The government however failed to do what it was supposed to because of never-stopping disagreements between the two movements.