The Hamas movement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party agreed Wednesday to form a unity government and hold general elections, a senior Palestinian official said.
Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the delegation in talks with Hamas, told Xinhua that a transitional unity government would be declared within five weeks and the general elections will be held within six months.
"Progress was made in forming the unity government, holding the elections and restructuring the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)," Barghouti said. "This is what was agreed upon in the reconciliation meetings held in Gaza."
On Tuesday, a high-ranking PLO delegation, headed by Fatah leader Azzam el-Ahmad and including four senior officials, arrived in Gaza for talks on implementing two reconciliation agreements reached in Cairo in 2011 and Qatar in 2012.
Hamas leader Ismail Haneya and Fatah's el-Ahmad said they did not intend to start a new dialogue but rather were meeting to find a mechanism to implement previous reconciliation agreements.
"The atmosphere of the talks, which began Tuesday night, is very much positive and there is an opportunity to achieve a breakthrough in all issues that are under discussion," Barghouti said.
Earlier Wednesday, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader, also described the talks as "very positive" in a press statement.
