Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday, December 4 it was time to seal a reconciliation with the Islamist terrorist group Hamas which rules Gaza and unite Palestinian ranks, Agence France Presse reported. “It is time to seriously deal with reconciliation and for contacts with Egypt’s mediation for a reconciliation,” Abbas, who heads the rival Fatah party, said at a meeting of the Palestinian leadership attended by Nassereddine al-Shaer, a Hamas deputy premier. Hamas-Fatah tensions have been high since 2006, when the Islamists won Palestinian legislative elections. Hamas seized power in Gaza the following year, ending a power-sharing deal with the secular Fatah which holds sway in the West Bank.