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.



Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
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Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)

US President Joe Biden welcomed the election of Joseph Aoun as Lebanon's president on Thursday, saying in a statement that the army chief was the “right leader” for the country.

“President Aoun has my confidence. I believe strongly he is the right leader for this time,” said Biden, adding that Aoun would provide “critical leadership” in overseeing an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.

Aoun's election by Lebanese lawmakers ended a more than two-year vacancy and could mark a step towards lifting the country out of financial meltdown.

“We finally have a president,” Biden said later, at the end of a meeting on the response to major wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles.

He said he had spoken to Aoun by phone on Thursday for “20 minutes to half an hour,” describing the Lebanese leader as a “first-rate guy.”

Biden pledged to continue US support for Lebanon’s security forces, and for Lebanon’s recovery and reconstruction, the White House said in a readout of Biden’s call with Aoun.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Aoun's election “a moment of historic opportunity,” which offered Lebanon a chance to “establish durable peace and stability.”

Aoun, who turned 61 on Friday, faces the difficult task of overseeing the fragile ceasefire with Israel in south Lebanon.

Separately, Biden spoke about the hostage talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“We’re making some real progress,” he told reporters at the White House, adding that he had spoken with US negotiators earlier Thursday.

“I know hope springs eternal, but I’m still hopeful that we’ll be able to have a prisoner exchange.”

Biden added: “Hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange right now, but I think we may be able to get that done. We need to get it done.”