Algeria says seeking to heal inter-Palestinian rift

ANKARA

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is seeking to heal inter-Palestinian rift, Parliament Speaker Salah Goudjil said.

Goudjil met in the capital Algiers with a delegation from Gaza-based Hamas group for talks on efforts to mend fences with the rival Fatah movement.

Palestine "occupies a special place in the official and popular conscience" in Algeria, the speaker said in statements carried by the state news agency.

"Algeria's support for Palestine is steeped in history…and seeks to achieve the ultimate goal of establishing the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital,” he added.

The Hamas delegation, for its part, hailed the Algerian support to the Palestinian people.

Last month, Algeria hosted two days of talks between Palestinian factions in an effort to heal their years-long rift.

A political and geographical division has prevailed in the Palestinian territories since 2007 when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Fatah movement has since ruled the West Bank, while Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip. Many efforts have failed to end the rift between the two rival movements.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report.