Hamas and Fatah officials have begun reconciliation talks in Cairo aimed at ending the decade-long division between the two Palestinian groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The negotiations, which are being overseen by Egyptian intelligence chiefs, are aimed at restoring unity between the both territories – but face numerous obstacles to achieving this.

Ahead of the talks, which are scheduled to last three days, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he would not accept a scenario in which Hamas’s armed wing maintained control of its weapons.

Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh later told Egyptian officials that, while his party would not give up control of its weapons, it would be prepared to make joint decisions with Fatah about when and how to use them.

There are also further divisions between the groups on the issue of around 40,000 Hamas-appointed workers being paid salaries in Gaza despite not having worked for the past decade.

Hamas wants the PA to absorb these workers onto its payroll, although this had been refused in previous reconciliation talks.

But a leading PLO executive committee member has said he is hopeful the talks will succeed this time, mainly because of the weak position Hamas now find themselves in.

“Hamas is in a very difficult situation in Gaza and needs to find a way out,” the PLO’s Wasel Abu Yousif told the Jerusalem Post.

“I am optimistic that we will succeed this time.”

Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri will be heading his side’s delegation while the Fatah side includes central committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, who is responsible for the movement’s reconciliation portfolio, as well as the minister for civilian affairs Hussein al-Sheikh.

Sources say the Egyptians are determined to stop the talks collapsing at an early stage because of the implications for the whole region.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi , who is involved in the process, has said Palestinian reconciliation “constitutes a first step that prepares the ground for peace between the Palestinians and Israel.”

In Egypt, some observers are taking things one step further, stressing that Sisi’s words are linked to the overall “regional deal” that U.S. President Donald Trump has been talking about.