JERUSALEM (JTA) — Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah met to continue reconciliation talks.

Fatah, the party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, met in Damascus last Friday night to for unity talks.

The groups agreed to continue talks in order to achieve reconciliation, according to a joint statement issued by the groups on Saturday morning. The statement said that several disagreements had been resolved. 

The reconciliation talks come against the backdrop of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which do not include Hamas.