Hamas hands over Arafat house to PLO after eight years

The Islamic movement of Hamas on Tuesday handed over the house of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Gaza after eight years' control.

Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad handed the house over to a delegation of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, headed by Fatah central committee member and the PLO executive committee member Zakaria al-Agha, Xinhua reported.

The handover process was also attended by a number of Palestinian parties and carried out under the protection of Palestinian police.

The house included pictures of the late leader, his military uniform, his private weapon, furniture and other belongings.

"President Arafat has spent his life for the Palestinian cause, " Al-Agha said during the event.

"President Arafat has always called for national unity," al-Agha said while stressing the importance of abiding by the goals of Yasser Arafat which include the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Al-Agha called upon Hamas, the party that forcibly controlled the Gaza Strip in 2007 after rounds of fighting with forces loyal to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), to take practical measures to end the internal split.

Meanwhile, member of Fatah's revolutionary council Faisal Abu Shahla told Xinhua that it is an emotional moment to be able to enter Arafat's house after all these years.