Palestinian prime minister visits Gaza in major reconciliation move with Hamas

JERUSALEM – The West Bank-based Palestinian prime minister crossed into the Gaza Strip on Monday in a major drive towards reconciliation between Hamas and the mainstream Fatah party, a decade after the Islamist group seized the territory in a civil war.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered outside the Hamas-controlled checkpoint, down the road from Israel's Erez border crossing through which Rami al-Hamdallah and his delegation passed, to welcome the prime minister. Many waved Palestinian flags.