GAZA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah concluded Thursday the first official visit to Gaza Strip since December 2014, aiming at reconciliation with Islamic Hamas movement.
During the four-day visit, Hamdallah and his cabinet ministers as well as chiefs of security took over responsibilities in the coastal enclave from the Hamas movement.
Before leaving Gaza Strip, Hamdallah visited the water desalination project in Gaza city. He said to reporters that "achieving national reconciliation is a national interest and an internal Palestinian issue."
He also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his recent statements concerning the reconciliation, saying he will ignore "any statements that come in the way of the reconciliation, because without national unity, there is no Palestinian cause, no national project and no Palestinian state without Gaza Strip."
Netanyahu earlier said "he doesn't accept an illusional (Palestinian) reconciliation where Hamas doesn't recognize Israel and a homeland for the Jewish nation as one of three conditions it should agree to."
Speaking to reporters at the end of his visit, Hamdallah stressed the importance of the upcoming talks in Cairo between Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian President's Fatah party, along with other factions.
The arrival of Hamdallah's government in Gaza to take over administration from Hamas resulted from an Egyptian-brokered agreement reached in Cairo last month between Hamas and Fatah.
The parties are scheduled to hold an assessment meeting in Cairo next week, where they will discuss the progress of the government's first week of work in Gaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said "the meeting is "important and crucial," and "aims to lay foundations and go into the specific details of the next steps."
He said the Palestinians hope to succeed in this mission "because unity is our goal and we are counting on it," adding that "without unity, there will be no Palestinian state."
Abbas also said that Fatah Revolutionary Council, the group's parliament, is to convene in Ramallah on late Thursday to "widely discuss the reconciliation" after Hamas dissolved its Gaza Affairs Committee.
"The road now is widely open to talk about national unity," said Abbas.
