Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, January 4 predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave, Reuters reported. “Soon we will regain our unity,” Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions, said in a televised address to hundreds of thousands of followers marching in Gaza. Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, expelled Fatah from Gaza during the war. Egypt has long tried to broker Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, but past efforts have foundered over questions of power-sharing, control of weaponry, and to what extent Israel and other powers would accept a Palestinian administration including Hamas.