A Fatah delegation headed by senior officials Azzam al-Ahmed and Hussein al-Sheikh arrived Sept. 16 in Cairo to discuss ways to structure a Palestinian reconciliation with Hamas. The delegation returned to Ramallah pessimistic. Several hours after they delivered their gloomy assessment to Palestinian President and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas regarding Hamas’ intentions to advance reconciliation and dialogue, Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh contacted Abbas by phone.

The two leaders of the rival Palestinian factions have been estranged for several years. They last spoke by phone six years ago, in 2011, when Haniyeh called Abbas to express his condolences upon the death of Abbas' brother. About a year ago, in October 2016, Haniyeh, Abbas and Khaled Meshaal, Haniyeh's predecessor, met in Qatar in what Abbas’ office described as a “random encounter.’’ They exchanged a few polite words and spoke of their desire for reconciliation. Nothing more happened after that.

This time, the call was trans-Atlantic, from Gaza to New York, where Abbas is preparing for what the Palestinian president has billed as “the speech of his life” to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20. Haniyeh felt the time was right to remind Abbas about a possible Palestinian reconciliation and ask him not to forget to say so to the assembly.

In their talk, Haniyeh mentioned Hamas' decision to dismantle the administrative committee governing Gaza, but Abbas did not commit in return to lifting the sanctions the Palestinian Authority (PA) has imposed on Gaza. At this stage, Abbas, following the advice of his two envoys upon their return from Cairo, is treating Haniyeh and the Hamas leadership with a mix of suspicion and respect, along the lines of US President Ronald Reagan's approach to the Soviets — “trust but verify.” Despite the smiles, none of the PA brass is optimistic about the prospects of mending the rift between Fatah and Hamas, which began more than a decade ago.