Palestinian Factions To Develop Road Map After 3-Day Moscow Talks - Ambassador Abdel Hafiz Nofal

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published February 11, 2019 | 09:23 PM

The Palestinian factions are planning to issue a joint statement after the ongoing three-day talks in Moscow, which will include a road map on restoring the intra-Palestinian unity, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told Sputnik on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2019) The Palestinian factions are planning to issue a joint statement after the ongoing three-day talks in Moscow, which will include a road map on restoring the intra-Palestinian unity, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told Sputnik on Monday.

The third intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow opened earlier on Monday and will last through Wednesday. Ahead of the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it expected 10 Palestinian movements to be represented in the talks. Participants in the negotiations will also be received by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Following the meeting, a joint statement will be made, which we can call the 'Moscow document' or the factions' agreements reached in Moscow. We will come to an agreement on the name, but, of course, we will develop a document that will contain a road map at this stage," Nofal said.

The ambassador noted that it was impossible to put an end to the differences and split that had been in place for 12 years as a result of a two-day meeting.

Nevertheless, he stressed that all Palestinian factions trusted Russia and were ready to listen to its position.

"We hope that during these two days, open consultations between all Palestinian factions will help to develop a common vision and establish a positive channel of communication, as well as achieve the unification of the Palestinians in such a way as to confront the challenges faced by the region, including the challenges posed by Israel and the United States," the diplomat added.

In 2007, a deadly conflict between Fatah, then dominating party in Palestine, and the Hamas Islamist movement resulted in the split of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas taking over the Gaza Strip. The West Bank is still controlled by Fatah.