27 April 2011 Last updated at 18:28 GMT
Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas 'agree to end rift'
Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Khaled Meshaal, file pic Fatah and Hamas have been
bitterly divided for more than four years
The Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas,
which governs Gaza, have agreed a reconciliation deal, officials say.
Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, an interim government will be formed and a
date fixed for elections.
The groups have been divided for more than four years, with Hamas in power in
Gaza and Fatah running the West Bank.
Israel immediately said that the Palestinian Authority could not have peace
with both Hamas and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "I hope the Palestinian
Authority will make the right choice - peace with Israel."
Hamas has carried out bombings and rocket attacks against Israel for years and
does not recognise its right to exist.
The US responded to the news by saying that any Palestinian unity government
would have to renounce violence and recognise Israel.
--
Analysis
In recent years relations between the two main Palestinian factions have been
nothing short of poisonous. Hamas has consistently refused to recognise the
legitimacy and authority of Mr Abbas, because it says his term of office
expired more than a year ago. Fatah loyalists have often been unable to hide
their hatred of fundamentalist hard-liners in Hamas who took control of Gaza in
2007.
But Palestinian unity is a goal cherished by most people in Gaza and the West
Bank, who say that the four-year split has seriously undermined and harmed
chances of the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
But there is still a long way to go. Elections would have to be held in Gaza
and the West Bank, presumably later this year for a new Palestinian parliament
and the presidency. Also, as Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by
many Western countries, it is difficult to see how they could co-operate with
any future administration unless Hamas formally changes its attitude and
constitution vis-a-vis Israel.
--
Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza this month, calling for
reconciliation.
The protests were inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Middle East and North
Africa.
The split between Fatah and Hamas occurred when violence erupted a year after
Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.
Signing ceremony
Tahir al-Nounou, a Hamas government spokesman who was at the meeting in the
Egyptian capital, Cairo, where the deal was hammered out, told the BBC: "Hamas
and Fatah have signed in principle a reconciliation deal in Cairo.
"The final signing will be in a week from now. Cairo will invite Mahmoud Abbas
and [Hamas leader] Khaled Meshaal, and representatives from all Palestinian
factions, to attend the signing."
Mr Nounou said all disagreements had been overcome.
He said of Israel's response to the deal that Israel was "not concerned with
Palestinian reconciliation and has been an impediment to it in the past".
Fatah and Hamas had been close to a deal last year but Hamas withdrew, saying
the terms had been revised without its agreement. Mr Abbas has since been
pushing for reconciliation.
Fatah delegation head Azzam al-Ahmad said: "We have agreed to form a government
composed of independent figures that would start preparing for presidential and
parliamentary elections.
"Elections would be held in about eight months from now," he said.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Cairo says that if the deal goes ahead, it will end
five years of bitter hostility between the two sides and remove a significant
barrier to the Palestinian campaign for statehood.
Continue reading the main story
Fatah-Hamas Rivalry
January 2006 - Hamas wins Palestinian Authority legislative election
March 2006 - Hamas government sworn in. US and EU suspend ties.
February-March 2007 - Fatah and Hamas agree to form coalition to end
growing factional warfare
June 2007 - Hamas seizes control of Gaza from Fatah after continued
fighting. Unity government dissolved, Israel tightens blockade of Gaza Strip.
But he says there are many difficult issues to resolve - such as how the two
factions will share security, how Gaza and the West Bank, separated by Israeli
territory, will be governed, and whether the international donors will be
willing to recognise Hamas.
The BBC's Wyre Davies in Jerusalem says the Netanyahu government has repeatedly
said it will not sit down and talk about a two-state solution if Hamas is any
way involved.
Mr Netanyahu told the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday: "There cannot be peace
with both [Israel and Hamas] because Hamas wants to destroy Israel and says so
openly. It shoots missiles at our cities, it fires anti-tank missiles at our
children.
"I think that the idea of reconciliation shows the weakness of the Palestinian
Authority and raises the question whether Hamas will take over Judea and
Samaria [the West Bank] as it has taken over the Gaza Strip."
US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said: "The United States
supports Palestinian reconciliation on terms which promote the cause of peace.
"Hamas, however, is a terrorist organisation which targets civilians. To play a
constructive role in achieving peace, any Palestinian government must...
renounce violence, abide by past agreements, and recognise Israel's right to
exist."
Violence between Israel and militant groups in Gaza escalated this March
following a rocket attack on an Israeli school bus which killed a teenage boy.
Israel also launched a full-scale ground operation - named Cast Lead - in the
Gaza Strip that began in December 2008 and ended in January 2009.
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