Hamas moves to join Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)

Hamas has moved to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, a key step toward unifying the long-divided Palestinian leadership. Hamas' leader Khaled Meshal on Thursday joined a committee that will prepare for elections to the PLO leadership. Those elections are likely years away but Meshal's move means he will work with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the rival Fatah party. Thursday's development is an important step toward reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah - which have been split since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Members of several Palestinian factions met in Cairo on Thursday as part of reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas. Israel has rejected the reconciliation efforts, refusing to negotiate with a government including Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel.