UN congratulates Palestinians on reconciliation, Israel expresses displeasure

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the Palestinian reconciliation agreement, signed in Cairo, world media report, Patria news agency conveys.

Guterres said he was "encouraged by the new progress that enables the Palestinian government to assume its responsibilities in Gaza" and that he "welcomes Egypt's efforts to achieve this agreement," according to a UN statement.

The UN Secretary-General believes that it is urgently necessary to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, especially the electricity shortage, and to improve the possibilities for entry and exit to this territory on the Mediterranean coast with two million inhabitants, one of the most densely populated in the world.

The Islamic extremist movement Hamas and the rival, more moderate Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo on Monday to end a decade of devastating disagreements.

Israel announced that it will not engage with the Palestinian unity government unless it recognizes Israel and disarms Hamas.

Negotiations in Cairo began last Tuesday, with the aim of overcoming disagreements between Hamas, which governs Gaza, and Fatah, which holds power in the West Bank.

After ten years of administrative and political division, last week Hamas dissolved its local committee and handed over power in Gaza to the national unity government, and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah held the first government session in Gaza in three years.