PA to Sanction Hamas Anniversary Event in West Bank

Nablus, 27 Muharram 1434/11 December 2012 (Ma’an/MINA) – The Palestinian Authority has officially agreed to allow a Hamas festival commemorating the movement’s 25th anniversary in the West Bank, an independent politician said Monday.

Khalil Assaf, who heads a Palestinian forum of independent figures, said Hamas would organize a festival in Nablus on Thursday.

Hamas leaders will deliver speeches, with the sanction of the Fatah-dominated West Bank government.

Hamas has already approved a Fatah festival in Gaza commemorating its 48th anniversary, Assaf noted.

Fatah in Gaza announced on Sunday they would organize a celebration under the banner ‘statehood and victory’.

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The parties, who split Palestine into separate governments in 2007 amid bitter fighting, had both clamped down on political activity by the rival party.

Since Gaza’s Hamas rulers reached a ceasefire with Israel after eight days of fighting in November, the parties have started to lift some of the restrictions, raising hopes of reviving the stalled reconciliation deal of 2011.(T/R-015/R-006).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)