GAZA, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh announced Thursday that his Islamic movement has accepted the initiative of eight Palestinian factions to hold elections by mid-2020.
"Hamas accepts the responsible and faithful initiative of the factions without any preconditions or amendment," Haniyeh told reporters after meeting the Palestinian factions' leaders in Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh officially replied to the initiative by the factions in a letter to their leaders he met in Gaza.
The initiative was presented earlier this week to Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement which refused to join.
The initiative considered all reconciliation agreements and understandings signed by the Palestinian factions before as the reference for ending the internal Palestinian division and seeking unity.
The factions called for holding a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) during October 2019 in Cairo and the meeting has to be attended by Abbas.
The initiative said the committee has to agree on a strategy or a political program based on joint principles, and on the formation of a transitional unity government until holding the general comprehensive elections.
It envisions a transitional period from October 2019 to July 2020 to achieve national unity and end the internal division.
The eight-faction initiative called for unifying the Palestinian election laws for all the Palestinian establishments.
It called on both Hamas and Abbas to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories by mid-2020.
Abdulla Abdulla, a senior Fatah leader in the West Bank, told Xinhua "we don't need to sign new reconciliation agreements, but all that we are in need is to implement the signed agreements and understandings."
