The Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have begun the reconciliation process at a meeting during which most of their differences, including the issue of power sharing, were resolved.

Delegations headed by Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal and senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed held a meeting in Meshaal’s office in Damascus on Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The two sides reached an understanding on "the majority of points of difference," they said in a statement issued after the meeting.

Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, but since a major dispute with Fatah in 2007, it only rules in the Gaza Strip.

The two factions also agreed to continue talks with the aim of signing a reconciliation agreement in Egypt, which has been mediating talks between them since last year.

An earlier fence-mending proposal by Cairo, which called for Palestinian elections in the first half of 2010 and assigned responsibility for the security forces to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA), was accepted by Fatah, AP added.

However, Hamas rejected the proposal because it did not include the right of the Palestinians to "resist Israeli occupation."

(Press TV)