RAMALLAH - Senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat said there would be no Palestinian state without the Gaza Strip.

Erekat said the two Palestinian factions - Fatah and Hamas - must reconcile to establish a Palestinian state.

In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Ereket blamed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the animosity between the two rival factions.

"Netanyahu holds the sword of division in his hands," Erekat said, saying Israeli construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, which he refers to as the West Bank, will destroy the peace process before it begins.

Erekat praised Egypt for its role as mediator in the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

In a related matter, the recently elected Fatah Central Committee appointed Muhammad Dahlan, former PA head of security in the Gaza Strip, to be in charge of "information."

Source: Ma'an news agency