The head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and the leader of Hamas have formed a reconciliation committee aimed at uniting rival Palestinian political movements. Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh met for rare in-person talks in Egypt Sunday along with the heads of other Palestinian groups. Hamas, which runs a parallel government in the besieged Gaza Strip, has called on the Palestinian Authority to end its security collaboration with Israel and cease the detention of political prisoners. The group has also called for the formation of an inclusive Palestinian parliament through democratic elections. Friction between Hamas and Fatah, the dominant party in the Palestinian Authority, has persisted since 2007 after violence erupted between the two groups over control of Palestinian territories.