As it has every year since taking control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, on Monday Hamas announced its decision to ban Fatah supporters from holding a rally in the Gaza Strip to mark the anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death.

Zakariya al-Agha, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said the Hamas government had informed him formally of the decision to ban the rally, which was scheduled to be held on November 11. He said the rally, which had been planned by Fatah, was supposed to be held in Gaza City’s Katibeh Square.

The decision came as representatives of the two parties prepared to meet in Syria on Tuesday to discuss ways of solving the dispute between them. Sources close to Hamas and Fatah said the issue of security would be at the top of the agenda.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed the possibility of sharing security powers with Hamas in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip – a move that has drawn sharp criticism from the Islamist movement