GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Representatives of Fatah and Hamas met April 18 in Gaza City. Fatah’s delegation presented Hamas with a road map from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to end the split and resolve Gaza's crises.

Although on April 16 Hamas refused to meet with Fatah without the presence of all Palestinian factions, the bilateral meeting took place. Fatah announced April 11 that a high-level delegation would meet with Hamas. The delegation, however, was reduced to two members of the Central Committee instead of six, and Fatah refrained from giving any justification.

Fatah spokesman Fayez Abu Eita told Al-Monitor that Abbas' message, which Fatah’s delegation delivered to Hamas, centered on demanding that Hamas enable the Palestinian consensus government to operate effectively in the Gaza Strip, dissolve its administrative committee, and agree to hold local and general elections within six months.

Abu Eita explained that Hamas welcomed the idea for the consensus government to take over the administration of the Gaza Strip and told the Fatah delegation to consider the administrative committee dissolved once the government sets up in Gaza. At the end of the meeting, Hamas promised to deliver its response in writing to Fatah’s Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, who is in charge of the reconciliation dossier, within a week.