Islamic Jihad hold cross-factional reconciliation summit

Political factions in Gaza on Sunday called on Hamas and Fatah to end their public media spat, after a meeting called by Islamic Jihad leader Khalid al-Batsh. National and Islamist factions met in the Gaza Strip earlier Sunday, and issued a statement saying the exchange of accusations in the media hamper the reconciliation deal to end over four years of national division. While Fatah participated in the meeting, Hamas did not respond to an invitation, al-Batsh said. The senior Jihad official is the Gaza coordinator of the public freedoms committee set up to implement the May 2011 deal. On Saturday, leaders of the Palestinian coalition of independent figures urged the parties to get on with implementing the agreement, which nearly a year later, remains stuck as disagreements continue. The latest round of accusations started Friday after the PA negotiated the entry of a day's fuel supply into Gaza amid widespread electricity shortages that most Gaza residents hold Hamas responsible for, according to a recent poll. Hamas leader Musheer al-Masri told a protest in Gaza: "The PA announced it is an ally of the enemy and created the fuel crisis after it coordinated with the donors to transfer the salaries of its employees who are sitting at home." Abbas adviser Nimir Hammad countered that Hamas' insistence of smuggling fuel underground was partly to blame for the crisis, and called al-Masri's remarks "rude and very poisonous."