RAMALLAH -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) allowed Islamic Hamas movement to celebrate its anniversary in the West Bank for the first time since the 2007 inter-Palestinian split, a Palestinian official said Monday.

The acceptance agrees with the general atmosphere that is going toward reconciliation between Hamas which took over Gaza and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party which governs the West Bank.

On Thursday, Hamas is scheduled to hold a rally and a public festival in the northern West Bank city of Nablus in commemoration of its 25th anniversary.

"Hamas requested to hold its festival and we told them they can do," said Gabreen al-Bakri, the governor of Nablus.

On Saturday, Hamas held a massive rally in Gaza to mark its anniversary. Khaled Meshaal, the chief-in-exile of Hamas' politburo, attended the rally on the sidelines on his first visit to Gaza, which has become possible following an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel after November clash.

Meshaal called for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, though he favored a settlement based on Hamas' ideology, mainly the adoption of armed resistance to create an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Attoun, a Hamas lawmaker in the West Bank, welcomed the approval of Hamas' rally, hoping that "positive atmosphere will continue."

However, Fatah in the Gaza Strip started preparations to celebrate its anniversary, which falls on January 1, though Hamas has not given them a final response.

Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah official in Gaza, said the celebration will be held under the motto of "statehood and victory, " referring to the United Nations voting that upgraded the status of Palestine to a non-member observer state last month.