Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have reached agreement on steps to bridge their years-long divide, including the formation of a unity government of technocrats by month’s end, mediators and officials with the two groups said Thursday, January 17, The Los Angeles Times reported. The two Palestinian factions, which have been at odds since Hamas violently seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, have been holding on-again, off-again reconciliation talks for more than a year. Their goal has been to politically reunite the West Bank, which is under Fatah control, and Gaza, ruled by Hamas. They have previously announced agreements, only to have the arrangements later fall apart. The disrupted talks on reconciliation resumed last week after a meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Cairo, during which the two leaders reportedly worked out their differences.