Fatah agrees to join committee to end politically-motivated arrests

By Xinhua,

Gaza : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement has accepted to join a national committee designated to end politically-motivated detentions of Palestinians, a Palestinian official said Saturday.


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The formation of this committee was offered last week during a meeting between Hamas leaders in Gaza and officials from leftist Palestinian factions after a surge of politically-motivated detentions.

“Fatah has showed its readiness to join a national committee to resolve the issue of political arrests by setting up a mechanism to release the prisoners,” said Mahmoud Khalaf, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

On Friday, the leftist factions met several leaders of Fatah in the Hamas-controlled Gaza, two day after a similar meeting with Hamas Islamists.

During the meeting, the factions discussed ways of resuming inter-Palestinian dialogue to end political split between the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Last year, Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and took over control of the Gaza Strip, which resulted in a de facto separation from the already geographically-unlinked West Bank.

Hamas launched the toughest crackdown against Fatah in Gaza last month following a beachside blast in which a girl and five Hamas members were killed, which Hamas blamed Fatah for being behind. Fatah then responded by arresting Hamas people in West Bank.

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