Palestinian Factions Discuss Reconciliation Deal in Algiers

A handout picture provided by the Algerian Presidency's official Facebook Page on October 12, 2022 shows the Palestinian Hamas movement's leader Ismail Haniyeh (L), Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (C) and Fatah member Azzam al-Ahmed (R) posing for a picture along other officials during a meeting of Palestinian factions in the Algerian capital Algiers. (Photo by Algerian Presidency's Facebook page / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Algerian Presidency's official Facebook Page on October 12, 2022 shows the Palestinian Hamas movement's leader Ismail Haniyeh (L), Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (C) and Fatah member Azzam al-Ahmed (R) posing for a picture along other officials during a meeting of Palestinian factions in the Algerian capital Algiers. (Photo by Algerian Presidency's Facebook page / AFP)
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Palestinian Factions Discuss Reconciliation Deal in Algiers

A handout picture provided by the Algerian Presidency's official Facebook Page on October 12, 2022 shows the Palestinian Hamas movement's leader Ismail Haniyeh (L), Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (C) and Fatah member Azzam al-Ahmed (R) posing for a picture along other officials during a meeting of Palestinian factions in the Algerian capital Algiers. (Photo by Algerian Presidency's Facebook page / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Algerian Presidency's official Facebook Page on October 12, 2022 shows the Palestinian Hamas movement's leader Ismail Haniyeh (L), Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (C) and Fatah member Azzam al-Ahmed (R) posing for a picture along other officials during a meeting of Palestinian factions in the Algerian capital Algiers. (Photo by Algerian Presidency's Facebook page / AFP)

Divided Palestinian factions met in Algiers Thursday amid efforts to persuade them to sign a reconciliation deal to lay out timelines to hold elections within a year, officials said.

"The Palestinians have been divided for more than 15 years, which has hugely weakened our cause," said Azzam al-Ahmed, the head of the Fatah delegation in the Algerian capital.

Ismael Haniyeh, chief of the Hamas movement, said the Algerian-mediated talks which began Tuesday had been "positive and calm".

The Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas and its main rival Hamas have been at odds since elections in 2006, which were won by Hamas but never recognized by the international community.

Months later, the movement seized control of the Gaza Strip in a deadly conflict that consolidated years of division, with Fatah administering Palestinian-run areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Parliamentary and presidential polls, the first since the division, had been set to take place last year, but were cancelled.

Hossam Badran, a senior Hamas official said that they had "agreed to hold elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, the presidency and the Palestinian National Council within a year".

But Fatah, whose head Abbas is at meetings in Kazakhstan rather than at the talks in Algiers, sparked doubts on Wednesday night that a draft agreement would be signed.

It demanded that members of any resulting national unity government abide by international law, a point rejected by Hamas.

"The document proposed by Algeria was general and doesn't go into details," said Palestinian analyst Khalil Shaheen.



Biden Warns Israel against Iran Oil Strikes as War Fears Mount

US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)
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Biden Warns Israel against Iran Oil Strikes as War Fears Mount

US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)

US President Joe Biden on Friday advised Israel against striking Iran's oil facilities, saying he was trying to rally the world to avoid the escalating prospect of all-out war in the Middle East.

But his predecessor Donald Trump, currently campaigning for another term in power, went so far as to suggest Israel should "hit" Iran's nuclear sites.

Making a surprise first appearance in the White House briefing room, Biden said that Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu "should remember" US support for Israel when deciding on next steps.

"If I were in their shoes, I'd be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields," Biden told reporters, when asked about his comments a day earlier that Washington was discussing the possibility of such strikes with its ally.

Biden added that the Israelis "have not concluded how they're, what they're going to do" in retaliation for a huge ballistic missile attack by Iran on Israel on Tuesday.

The price of oil had jumped after Biden's remarks Thursday.

Any long-term rise could be damaging for US Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat confronts Republican Trump in a November 5 election where the cost of living is a major issue.

Meanwhile Trump, campaigning in North Carolina, offered a far more provocative view of what he thinks a response to Iran should be, referencing a question posed to Biden this week about the possibility of Israel targeting Iran's nuclear program.

"They asked him, 'what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran?' And he goes, 'As long as they don't hit the nuclear stuff.' That's the thing you want to hit, right?" Trump told a town hall style event in Fayetteville, near a major US military base.

Biden "got that one wrong," Trump said.

"When they asked him that question, the answer should have been, hit the nuclear first, and worry about the rest later," Trump added.

Trump has spoken little about the recent escalation in tensions in the Middle East. But he issued a scathing statement this week, holding Biden and Harris responsible for the crisis.

- 'Wait to see' -

Biden's appearance at the famed briefing room podium was not announced in advance, taking reporters by surprise.

It comes at a tense time as he prepares to leave office with the Mideast situation boiling over and political criticism at home over his handling of a recent hurricane that struck the US southeast.

Biden said he was doing his best to avoid a full-scale conflagration in the Middle East, where Israel is bombing Lebanon in a bid to wipe out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

"The main thing we can do is try to rally the rest of the world and our allies into participating... to tamp this down," he told reporters.

"But when you have (Iranian) proxies as irrational as Hezbollah and the Houthis (of Yemen)... it's a hard thing to determine."

Biden however had tough words for Netanyahu, with whom he has had rocky relations as he seeks to manage Israel's response following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The Israeli premier has repeatedly ignored Biden's calls for restraint on Lebanon, and on Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.

Biden deflected a question on whether he believed Netanyahu was hanging back on signing a Middle East peace deal in a bid to influence the US presidential election.

"No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None, none, none. And I think Bibi should remember that," Biden said.

"And whether he's trying to influence the election, I don't know, but I'm not counting on that."

Biden said he had still not spoken to Netanyahu since the Iranian attack, which involved some 200 missiles, but added their teams were in "constant contact."

"They're not going to make a decision immediately, and so we're going to wait to see when they want to talk," the US leader added.

Iran said its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since shortly after the October 7, 2023 attacks.