CAIRO, February 21. /TASS/. Palestinian factions set to meet in Moscow in late February intend to reach a common agreement on forming a unified Palestinian government of technocrats, Ayman Al-Raqab, a member of the governing wing of one of the main factions within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Fatah movement, told a TASS correspondent.

"We hope that an agreement will be reached at the upcoming meeting in Moscow to form a unified Palestinian government of technocrats," Al-Raqab said. According to him, "such a government should have no political goals, and we are confident that the disagreements on this issue at the intra-Palestinian meeting will be overcome."

According to a member of Fatah's leading wing, the intra-Palestinian meeting initiated by Russia "will be much more productive than previous ones." "Palestinian factions have responded to Russia's proposal [to hold the meeting in Moscow] and the initiative on the need for a unified Palestinian government of technocrats," Al-Raqab said.

The Palestinian leadership, he added, "intends to overcome differences with Palestinian factions [in the Gaza Strip]." Al-Raqab believes that "if this does not happen at the Moscow meeting, the crisis between Palestinian factions will continue."

On February 16, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS that the intra-Palestinian meeting is scheduled for February 29 - March 1-2 in Moscow.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 mln Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.