Fatah, Dahlan bloc hold reconciliation talks ahead of Palestinian elections

High-level delegations from the Fatah movement, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA), and influential former top official Mohammed Dahlan’s Democratic Reform bloc have convened in the Egyptian city of Alamein for critical reconciliation talks ahead of Palestinian legislative elections.The meeting on Monday, publicised by Democratic Reform, comes as Fatah’s rivals – including Dahlan’s group and Hamas – discuss forming a broad coalition that could pose a significant challenge to the party in November’s elections.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3No, the Democratic Party is not shifting on Israellist 2 of 3How Israel’s Netanyahu weaponises religion in his war rhetoriclist 3 of 3Israeli forces raid UNRWA training centre in occupied East Jerusalemend of listMonday’s meetings were led by PA Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Fatah official, and Democratic Reform’s deputy leader Samir al-Mashharawi.Although al-Mashharawi described the initial atmosphere in Alamein as positive, he added that nothing “practical” had yet been agreed and said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas needed to make “decisive decisions” in order to unite the Fatah movement. Democratic Refor...