Shtayyeh Pledges Govt Support to End Palestinian Division

From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)
From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)
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Shtayyeh Pledges Govt Support to End Palestinian Division

From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)
From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday his government is ready to take any step that supports reconciliation efforts and end the division between Palestinian factions.

At the beginning of a government session, the PM said Algeria will invite the Palestinian factions, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, for a meeting that aims to end the division.

Shtayyeh saluted Algeria for its keenness to achieve unity among the factions.

Algeria has taken it upon itself to host dialogue between Palestinians ahead of the Arab League summit that it will host early next month. The National Conference for the Comprehensive Palestinian Dialogue is expected to be held in Algiers on October 11 and 12.

Senior officials from 14 Palestinian factions were already invited to attend the meeting, which hopes to end the more than 15 years of internal Palestinian division.

An official source in the Islamic Jihad said the movement had received an official invitation from Algeria to attend the talks.

Issam Abu Daka, from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Wasel Abu-Yousef from the PLO Executive Committee also received invites.

Algeria had discussed last month its reconciliation efforts with Fatah and Hamas officials.

On Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of Fatah, said the movement is open to working with efforts made by Egypt and Arab countries, namely Algeria, to achieve reconciliation.

Last August, Algerian President Abdel Madjid Tebboune said his country was keen on the reconciliation because a Palestinian state cannot be established without it.

Palestinian factions held their first reconciliation talks in Algeria in January, but they failed to achieve any breakthrough.



Gaza's Health Ministry Says the Palestinian Death Toll from the War Has Surpassed 46,000

People search the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 8, 2025 as the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
People search the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 8, 2025 as the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
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Gaza's Health Ministry Says the Palestinian Death Toll from the War Has Surpassed 46,000

People search the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 8, 2025 as the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
People search the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 8, 2025 as the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Health Ministry said Thursday, as the conflict raged into a 16th month with no end in sight.
The ministry said a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded. It has said women and children make up more than half the fatalities, but does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians, said The Associated Press.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in residential areas. Israel has also repeatedly struck what it claims are militants hiding in shelters and hospitals, often killing women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza. Israeli authorities believe at least a third of them were killed in the initial attack or have died in captivity.
The war has flattened large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its 2.3 million people, with many forced to flee multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are packed into sprawling tent camps along the coast with limited access to food and other essentials.
In recent weeks, Israel and Hamas have appeared to inch closer to an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. But the indirect talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled over the past year, and major obstacles remain.