CAIRO, 10 February, 2021 (TON) Palestinian faction s leaders including rivals Fatah and Hamas, concluded a two-day reconciliation dialogue in Egypt and agreed to cooperate on holding general elections this year.

The media reported that the agreement will hopefully end a 14-year rift between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah and the Islamic Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip

"National partnership is a complete path that starts with the legislative council elections, which is the first stage of the national council elections, followed by the elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority," the factions said in an agreement issued here late Tuesday night.

The legislative elections will be held on 22 May, presidential elections on 31 July, and the Palestinian National Council elections on 31 August, announced by Abbas in a presidential decree last month.

Jibril Rajoub, Secretary-General of the Central Committee of Fatah, told that the factions are committed to the timetable for holding the general elections in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Rajoub, also head of the Fatah delegation to the dialogue, said all factions have vowed to respect the outcome of the general elections.

"The factions have agreed to draw a roadmap for the next stage, and all we need is to have confidence in what has been achieved in the two-day dialogue in Cairo," the senior Palestinian official concluded.

"Today, we can say it's the beginning of a new history made by the Palestinian political forces toward turning a new page in national relations and putting an end to the black stage of division, which cost our people a lot of suffering," said Ahmed Majdalani, secretary-general of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF), one of the participating factions.

"Undoubtedly, reconciliation and end of division would put the Palestinian cause in the center of international attention at a time of many ongoing regional and international changes," the PPSF chief told the media in Cairo after the dialogue.

It is said that the factions also agreed to create an encouraging atmosphere of political freedom for elections, those detained over factional backgrounds will be released and prosecution of citizens for their views will be stopped.