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Rival Palestinian Factions Meet in Ramallah

   VOA News  March 26, 2011
   Palestinian  President  Mahmoud Abbas, center, gestures during a rally
   in the West Bank city of Ramallah, January 25, 2011 (file photo)

Photo: AP

   Palestinian  President  Mahmoud Abbas has held talks with officials in
   the rival Palestinian group, Hamas, the first direct talks between the
   two sides in more than a year.
   The  meeting  took  place  on  Saturday  in  the  West  Bank  city  of
   Ramallah.   The  Palestinian  news  agency  WAFA  quotes Mr. Abbas as
   telling  Hamas  officials  that Palestinians will not be able to reach
   their   goal   of   establishing   an   independent  state  without  a
   reconciliation between his Fatah party and Hamas, which rules the Gaza
   Strip.
   Mr.  Abbas  also says he is willing to travel to Gaza, in a bid to end
   divisions between the two parties.
   Meanwhile,  Israeli  officials say Palestinian militants in Gaza fired
   two  rockets  into  southern  Israel  on Saturday. They say one rocket
   damaged a home.
   Tensions  between  the  two  sides  heightened  over  the  past week.Â
   Militants  have  fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells into Israel
   while Israeli forces have responded with air strikes.
   On  Friday,  Israel  announced  it  would  deploy  an expensive rocket
   defense  system  called an "Iron Dome" to the region.  The government
   said  the interceptor system is capable of shooting down rockets fired
   from a range of five to 70 kilometers.
   The  announcement followed a pledge by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
   Netanyahu  that  his government was prepared to act with "great force"
   to halt rocket attacks from Gaza.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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