Turkey 'to donate $10 million' to reconstruct hundreds of Gaza homes

Azam al-Ahmad, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said during an interview with state-run Sawt Falesteen on Wednesday that a meeting is due to take place before the end of the year between Turkish and Palestinian ministerial committees to discuss the liaison to implement the rebuilding of homes. 

During the interview, al-Ahmad demanded that Ankara put pressure on Hamas to end the longstanding national conflict between Hamas and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA). 

Earlier this month, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose presidency expired in 2009, of stalling national reconciliation by imposing "punitive measures against the Gaza Strip".

Gaza has effectively been under siege by Israel since Hamas came to power in 2007, but has received most of its electricity and fuel from Israel ever since, subsidised by the PA.

A similar blockade from the Egyptian side of the border has exasperated the problems for Gazans, with energy, food, fuel, medical supplies and building materials in short supply.

In April, the PA began to end energy payments, causing frequent power cuts in Gaza and severe pressure on regional hospitals.

The World Health Organisation warned in June that the blackouts threatened Gaza's health service provision and placed people's lives at real risk.

In order to reverse this trend however, Abbas said he was ready to resume payments in exchange for a power-sharing deal from Hamas.

Hamas published a rewrite of its charter in May, with a reconciliatory nod towards the PA – the first step towards reconciliation.

"Hamas emphasises the need to build Palestinian institutions and national platform on solid and correct democratic bases," the new charter reads.