CRI听力:Hamas and Fatah Agree Unity Government Rule on Gaza

Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have reached an agreement for a national unity government led by President Mahmoud Abbas to run the Gaza Strip.

The deal comes as officials from the rival groups met in Cairo in a bid to overcome their differences ahead of talks with Israel slated for next month.

Azzam Ahmed is a member of Abbas's Fatah movement.

"We agreed on moving all of the obstacles out of the way of the unity government. A committee will be formed from the two parties, Fatah and Hamas, including all the other Palestinian political parties. This committee will work and support the government to do its work in reconstruction, solving problems and uniting all the civilian and security organisations."

Hamas has governed the strip since it ousted forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority in 2007.

The Gaza ceasefire struck in August between Israel and Palestine includes stipulations that the Palestinian Authority led by Abbas should take over civil administration in Gaza.

But a dispute over the Palestinian Authority's non-payment of salaries to Gaza's public sector workers escalated the tensions between the two factions.

This includes some 50,000 former employees of Hamas.

The deal says all civil servants in Gaza will be paid by the unity government.

It is estimated that the reconstruction work in Gaza would cost over 7.8 billion US dollars, two and a half times Gaza's gross domestic product.