Palestinian Hamas and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movements held a secret meeting in the Syrian capital Damascus, a Gaza-based Islamic Jihad leader announced on Tuesday.
Sheikh Naffez Azzam did not disclose the time and the exact place of the meeting but said that Jihad's exiled leader, Ramadan Shallah, and Hamas' politburo chief, Khaled Mashaal met in Damascus.
"These meetings mainly aim at strengthening the resistance front which the U.S. tries to demolish in the wake of what is going on in the Palestinian territories," Azzam told reporters in Gaza.
A statement issued by Hamas said the two leaders had emphasized that dialogue was the only way to resolve the ongoing crisis, which resulted from Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip from President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement in mid-June.
Since then, Hamas' security forces have been policing the Gaza Strip. In recent weeks, Hamas has been at odds with Jihad as Hamas men were enforcing security measures and trying to restore law and order in the enclave.
On Aug. 1, a member of Hamas police force was killed in clashes with a family supported by Jihad in eastern Gaza city.
Right after the conflict, Hamas' security forces exchanged fire two times with militants from Jihad's armed wing Saraya al-Quds in Gaza City, during which a Hamas and a Jihad member were killed.
Source: Xinhua
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