2012 Fatah–Hamas Cairo Agreement 2012 Fatah–Hamas Cairo Agreement The Fatah–Hamas 2012 Cairo Agreement was a reconciliation accord between the ruling Palestinian National Authority Fatah, and the fundamentalist organization Hamas, which currently rules over the Gaza Strip. Signed in May 2012 by Fatah's President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas' leader Khaled Mashal, the objective of the agreement was the formation of an interim government in preparation for the elections for a new Palestinian government. However, the agreement soon fell apart, and steps of major reconciliation were not made until January 2013. The Israeli and Palestinian conflict began in 1948 when the state of Israel was established.
President of the State of Palestine time, the PLO that elected him was led by Arafat himself. After Arafat's death in November 2004, the office was vacant. In May 2005, four months after Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian Authority, the PLO Central Council asked Abbas to act as President of State of Palestine. On 23 November 2008, the PLO Central Council formalized the function by electing Abbas President of the State of Palestine. The PLO organs that appointed Abbas in 2005 and 2008 were and still are led by Abbas himself. On 15 November 1988, Yasser Arafat became the symbolic President of the State