RAMALLAH – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday hosted the Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence chiefs to brief them on plans to hold the first Palestinian elections in 14 years.Abbas issued a decree on Friday announcing plans for parliamentary elections in May and a presidential election in July.
The rival Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas’ forces in 2007, welcomed the decree.The elections would mark a major step toward reconciling the Palestinian rift between Abbas’ Fatah movement, which runs the West Bank, and Hamas.