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| - Rival factions Fatah, which runs the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, and the Islamist group Hamas in charge of Gaza have been plagued by divisions for more than a decade. A recap: In 2006, Hamas contests elections to the Palestinian parliament for the first time, sweeping to a landslide victory over Fatah, which had dominated it ever since it was established. A unity government is installed with Hamas taking key posts but it is dogged by international demands, rejected by the Islamists, that they renounce violence and recognise Israel and past peace deals. In early 2007, simmering tensions between the rival factions erupt into bloody clashes in the Gaza Strip. After a week of violence in June, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas dismisses the unity government and declares a state of emergency in the territory. But Hamas fighters rout pro-Abbas forces and take control, a move the president calls a coup. In January 2012, the rivals strike a prisoner exchange agreement. The following month, they agree Abbas should lead an interim government, but the deal is disputed within Hamas and never implemented. In April 2014, the Abbas-led Palestine Liberation Organisation and Hamas finally agree on a unity government. It is sworn in on June 2 but fails to exercise authority over Gaza where Abbas accuses Hamas of setting up a parallel administration. In July-August 2014, the factions put up a united front after Israel launches a 50-day blitz against Gaza in response to rocket fire, but the unity government falls apart months later. In May 2017, Hamas makes a major revision to its founding charter, easing its stance on Israel after having long called for its destruction. The Islamist group says its struggle is not against Jews but against Israel as an occupier, and accepts the idea of a Palestinian state to be set up in territories currently occupied by Israel. The group -- which remains blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union -- is seen as seeking to ease its isolation without marginalising hardliners in its ranks. Tensions persist over the formation by Hamas of an "administrative committee" in Gaza that is seen as a rival Palestinian government. Abbas puts the squeeze on Hamas including by cutting payments for electricity supplies to the territory. An Egypt-led reconciliation push receives a major boost in September when Hamas agrees to dissolve the committee and cede civil power. In October in Cairo, the two sides say they have reached a deal, but disagreements over security soon emerge. On March 13, 2018 Rami Hamdallah, the Palestinian prime minister at the time, escapes unharmed when an explosion goes off as his convoy enters the Gaza Strip. Abbas accuses Hamas and announces sanctions against the movement. On January 6, 2019, the Palestinian Authority withdraws staff from the Rafah border post with Egypt in southern Gaza in protest at "brutal practices" by Hamas. The following month, Hamas takes control of the Palestinian side of the enclave's main goods crossing with Israel. On April 14, Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announces his new cabinet standing alongside Abbas, leaving out Hamas. Thousands of Palestinians hold a rare gathering in Gaza to mark Fatah's 55th anniversary on January 1, 2020. In a rare press conference on July 2, Fatah and Hamas pledge a united campaign against Israeli plans to annex territory in the occupied West Bank. acm/eab/hc/scw
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