Palestinian President Abbas visits Gaza for unity

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is set to return to the Gaza Strip next month, according to Palestinian Liberation Organisation [PLO] member, Zakaria al-Agha. Al-Agha said: “Abbas is very excited to visit Gaza, which he will visit after forming the national unity government on February 9,” he said in a press statement on Tuesday. The President will hold consultations with various Palestinian factions, focusing on Fatah and Hamas, with an eye to form a new government. “Its members will not be from Hamas or Fatah, providing they participated in past governments,” al-Agha added. Electoral registration will commence in Gaza before the end of January. Another meeting, between factional general-secretaries [including Gaza’s Hamas and Islamic Jihad], will be held in Cairo in the first week of February.