Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Photo: World Economic Forum via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has initiated talks with the Gaza-ruling terror group Hamas to lift sanctions on the organization, end its electricity crisis and restore PA control of Gaza, Arab media reported.

According to reports, Abbas conditioned the restoration of electricity service and the lifting of various banking restrictions upon Hamas’s public cancellation of an electricity deal recently negotiated with former Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, a rival of Abbas.

Abbas also conditioned the deal upon Hamas dismantling its government in Gaza and ceding control to the PA.

The PA recently reduced its payments to Israel for Gaza’s electricity, leading the Jewish state to cut the power supply to Gaza by almost a third, precipitating the coastal territory’s current energy crisis.

Recently, Dahlan claimed Gaza could expect to see the easing of its electricity crisis due to the opening of its border with Egypt in August. Dahlan also said a $100 million Gulf-funded power plant will eventually be constructed in Gaza to ease electricity shortages.