Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the president of Algeria, has hosted Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh, the opposing leaders of Palestine.
The Gaza Strip’s Islamist government, Hamas, and Abbas, the Palestinian president, met for the first time in 15 years.
Tebboune welcomed the two presidents to his nation’s 60th anniversary of independence celebrations.
It is pertinent to mention that Algeria is a major backer of the Palestinian cause.
Video shown on Algerian news stations showed President Tebboune arranging a handshake between Haniyeh and Abbas before the Hamas delegation members embraced Abbas. It is however unclear if he spoke with Haniyeh or not.
Along with a stamp honoring Algeria’s 60th anniversary of independence and a map depicting a Ramallah street recently given the name “Algeria,” President Abbas gave Tebboune the gifts.
The 2006 legislative elections were won by Hamas, but the following year the two leaders had a falling out, leading to Hamas’ deadly seizure of the Gaza Strip.
Since then, no elections have been held in Palestine, mostly due to internal strife.