Mahmoud Abbas to meet Khaled Meshaal in Doha

Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Head of Hamas Political Bureau Khaled Meshaal in Qatar’s capital, Doha, a Palestinian official says.

The senior Palestinian official said on Monday that the two leaders will meet later in the day.

Sources said that they will discuss the implementation of a unity deal between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas.

On April 23, Hamas and the PLO, which includes Abbas’ Fatah Party, pledged to end their differences and form a unity government.

Abbas and Meshaal are expected to focus on the formation of the national government, which would include representatives from various Palestinian factions.

Abbas traveled to Doha on Sunday to visit Qatari officials including Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Meshaal has been based in Doha for over two years after leaving his former base in the Syrian capital, Damascus, following the country’s deadly violence.

The last time Abbas and Meshaal met each other was in January 2013 in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.