Progress has been made towards peace in Palestine this year. Rival factions Fatah and Hamas signed a landmark reconciliation deal in October, ending a decade-long rift between the two political groups. Fatah was the cornerstone of the Palestinian national cause before it lost power in 2006, when Hamas won a land-slide victory in parliament elections.  In early 2007, Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a coalition to end the growing factional violence. But in June of that year, Hamas seized Gaza by force after Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas ordered the dissolution of the Hamas-led government and set up a rival government.

Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have been ruled separately since. Tensions between the two rivals have caused numerous violent clashes in the Gaza Strip. After years of violent clashes and political unrest, in April 2014, Hamas agreed to a reconciliation deal with Fatah that led to the formation of a national unity government. But it wasn't fully implemented until this past October.