CAIRO: A dozen Palestinian groups met under Egyptian auspices in Cairo on Thursday at the start of a long-awaited dialogue, which could reunite Palestinians after 18 months of schism between Gaza and the West Bank. All parties said they hope the dialogue will lead to a new national unity government to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza after a three-week Israeli offensive and then to organise presidential and parliamentary elections. But the Islamist group Hamas and the rival Fatah group, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, have different visions of the crucial question of how to deal with Israel. Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since June 2007, reserves the right to fight Israel, although it is prepared to accept an 18-month truce. Fatah, which controls the West Bank, has renounced violence and puts all its hope in negotiations.
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