Fatah, Hamas Agree To Form Interim Government

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and its bitter rival, the Islamist Hamas, struck a deal on Wednesday to form an interim unity government and fix a date for general election, both sides said.

The deal, which took many officials by surprise because of profound Fatah-Hamas divisions over how to resolve generations of conflict with Israel, was thrashed out in Egypt and followed a series of secret meetings.

"The two sides signed initial letters on an agreement. All points of differences have been overcome," Taher Al-Nono, the Hamas government spokesman in Gaza, told Reuters. He added that Cairo would shortly invite both sides to a signing ceremony.

The accord was first reported by Egypt's intelligence service, which brokered the talks.

In a statement carried by the Egyptian state news agency MENA, the intelligence service said the deal was hatched by a Hamas delegation led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the group's politburo, and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad.

"The consultations resulted in full understandings on all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," the statement said.

It said the agreement would allow Egypt to invite all Palestinian factions to sign a national reconciliation agreement in Cairo in the next few days.

Restoring Palestinian unity is seen as crucial to reviving any prospect for a Palestinian state based on peaceful co-existence alongside Israel. Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian movement until a 2006 election victory by Hamas, backs negotiated peace but the Islamists reject it.

Al-Ahmad and Abu Marzouk said the agreement covered all points of contention, including forming a transitional government, security arrangements and the restructuring of the Palestine Liberation Organization to allow Hamas to join it.

A senior Egyptian intelligence official told Reuters that he expected Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Damascus, to attend the signing of the agreement in Cairo.

(Reporting by Marwa Awad and Ayman Samir; Writing by Sami Aboudi and Crispian Balmer; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[laterthanyouthink]

03:21 PM on 04/29/2011

I'm rotating off being Middle East monitor this week.

So ... goodbye for now!

Goodbye, Lonely, goodbye, Rubal, goodbye StC, Taxim ... et al

Make some progress while I'm on break!

[Michael II]

06:48 AM on 04/29/2011

Lots of talk about Hamas being belligerent here. The Israeli news agency Artuz Sheva quoted MK Danny Danon at a gathering in Kifl Haris in the northern West Bank on Thursday: "We are standing by the tomb of Joshua son of Nun, conqueror of the land. We do not need to fear the word 'conquer' -- there is no shame in conquering the land."

For those that don't know him, Danny Danon was unanimously elected the head of Likud last year. He is preparing a lawfare suit against Goldstone and a bill in the Knesset to annex the West Bank.

Seems like Likud has some issues with this two-state concept Mr Netanyahu is paying lip service to (in English).

[karim banned]

12:29 PM on 04/29/2011

Now when Palestinians go to U.N. General Assembly to get justice, instead of begging to U.S. and Israel for a piece of land; there will be actually a hope for peace.

Mr Netanyahu does not need to act as peacemaker anymore, he was not good a good actor anyway and everybody saw how phony he is.

[Talab]

04:13 AM on 04/29/2011

Whew doggies ... with all the hasbara activity since the declaration of an agreement between Fatah and Hamas i bet the ministry will request more funding to "fight " this rear guard action online ROFL

[karim banned]

12:19 PM on 04/29/2011

Abbas waited and waited to get something from Israel and US. He had sacrificed many of Palestinians rights to get something, anything, out of Netanyahu; at last even he realized that there is no point to negotiate with Israel and its stooge, U.S.A..

If Palestinians can stay united and push statehood through U.N. General Assembly, the Israel and U.S.A. will be very isolated and everybody in the world can see U.S. hypocrisy.

[Kirby]

11:50 AM on 05/01/2011

My friend, Karim, it is not the hypocrisy of the American People you will see, for many of us, do see the real hypocrisy of our government, which is no longer (for the last 50 years), a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our government has become (because of AIPAC pay-offs in various forms), a government of the AIPAC, by the AIPAC, and for the AIPAC. And as you probably know, this means that the extremist zionists are yet in control. We, the majority of the American People, are in favor of justice. The laughter and sadness of this mess is the fact that among the many different pieces of propaganda foisted upon the American People is that a settlement has to come about through negotiations of the two parties (Israel and the PA), when in historical, if not hysterical) fact, Israel's existence was not brought into being on its own, but only through decision of the world in the United Nations. And now, this would be denied by Israel (and the United States?) We'll rue the ruination of our nation in this moral stagnation!

[Yank in France]

03:38 AM on 04/29/2011

For some reason this post, which tells a very PERSONAL STORY of his family FORCED EXPULSION from their home, was NOT accepted for publication last night.

Dare I try publishing it myself this morning? Here it is from Aussiposter:

"I can speak directly of two. My Grand Parents forced to abandon their home at gunpoint. Survivors of the Armenian holocaust and non-combatants. It is ironic really that one group of holocaust survivors persecuted for being Jewish, should evict another group of holocaust survivors because they are not."

[Raglimidechi]

05:53 PM on 04/28/2011

This "unity" government will last about as long as it takes Hamas to gobble up its senior partner.

[Talab]

04:15 AM on 04/29/2011

(Or for mossad to make it look like Hamas is trying to with some select assasinations)

[califlefty]

04:34 PM on 04/28/2011

It's going as well as expected. At approximately 20:00 on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, dozens of Palestinian civilians, including women, spontaneously gathered in the Unknown Soldier Yard, in support for reconciliation efforts between Fatah. At approximately 20:30, 4 police vehicles arrived at the area, and immediately many police officers, some of whom were wearing civilian clothes, stepped down. They violently beat, insulted and chased the participants. They also arrested 5 of the participants, including Mr. Jamal Farawana, a defender of prisoners’ rights, who was violently beaten, and Mr. Talal Abi Zarifa, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

And what was the spontaneous demonstration for? To support the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah!

[Christopher Hull]

01:55 PM on 04/28/2011

The best solution is one that neither government will accept. One person, one vote, one country. If Israel wants to be a "religion with nukes" then they must accept Iran's being a "religion with nukes." The road ahead is going to be difficult no matter what happens. What I do know is that the Israeli leaders, the Palestinian leaders, the other leaders of the Middle East have all milked this calamity for their own gain for so long that they are in danger of losing control of the situation. Both sides are wrong. We are wrong.
But no one wants to talk about anything that may provide lasting security and opportunity for the people who live in the region. Like creating a verifiable nuclear free zone for all parties.

[amake616]

05:05 PM on 04/28/2011

"The best solution is one that neither government will accept. One person, one vote, one country. If Israel wants to be a "religion with nukes" then they must accept Iran's being a "religion with nukes." "

That all sounds pretty reasonable. I think you could quite easily talk the Palestinians into "one person, one vote, one country" though based on past poll results.

[Raglimidechi]

05:55 PM on 04/28/2011

How about a verifiable terror-free zone for all parties?

[laterthanyouthink]

02:38 AM on 04/29/2011

No more bulldozing homes?

[Talab]

03:34 AM on 04/29/2011

Are you going to disband the IDF (they create the most terror in the region) COOL

[Ryan Magdangal]

01:50 PM on 04/28/2011

Self determination...

[theuniversalcollective]

01:56 PM on 04/28/2011

...... to eschew the yoke of persian and syrian terroristic pupetry? I'm all for that.

[fairwayhill]

01:28 PM on 04/28/2011

So caIIed lsraeI is stolen Palestine.

[theuniversalcollective]

01:57 PM on 04/28/2011

Blonde female AV's are for blonde females.

[califlefty]

03:10 PM on 04/28/2011

So called comment is a waste of words.

[muck-raker]

01:08 PM on 04/28/2011

It's not radical Islam that worries the US -- it's independence
Noam Chomsky
The Guardian,
"The Arab world is on fire," al-Jazeera reported last week, while throughout the region, western allies "are quickly losing their influence". The shock wave was set in motion by the dramatic uprising in Tunisia that drove out a western-backed dictator, with reverberations especially in Egypt, where demonstrators overwhelmed a dictator's brutal police.
Observers compared it to the toppling of Russian domains in 1989,Crucially, no Mikhail Gorbachev exists amonggreat powers that support Arab dictators. Rather, Washington and its allies keep to well-established principle that democracy is acceptable only insofar as it conforms to strategic and economic objectives: fine in enemy territory (up to a point), but not in our backyard, please, unless properly tamed.

One 1989 comparison has some validity: Romania, where Washington maintained its support for Nicolae Ceausescu, the most vicious of east European dictators, until the allegiance became untenable. Then Washington hailed his overthrow while the past was erased. standard pattern: , Suharto and many other useful gangsters. It may be under way in the case of Hosni Mubarak, along with routine efforts to try to ensure a successor regime will not veer far from the approved path. The current hope appears to be Mubarak loyalist General Omar Suleiman, just named Egypt's vice-president. Suleiman, the longtime head of the intelligence services, is despised by the rebelling public almost as much as the dictator himself.

http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20110204.htm

[Sam Bark]

11:58 PM on 04/28/2011

muck-r --- before you quote eltisit Chomsky, ask him to get down from his hot air balloon.... maybe, just maybe he may touch ground level reality..... this guy like many other professors lives in his own planet....... LoL

[Hoe Toe]

11:48 AM on 04/28/2011

These are the members of a death cult. They strapped bombs on their own children.

[Magic 62]

11:55 AM on 04/28/2011

I am sure, If we gave them $3 billion in free weapons every year, that they would use $100 million planes and guided bombs instead.

[theuniversalcollective]

11:58 AM on 04/28/2011

Good justification. Your wife and child next?

[StCuthbert]

12:00 PM on 04/28/2011

So because they are poor, it is ok that they strap bombs to their children.

[Yank in France]

01:53 PM on 04/28/2011

Who strapped bombs on their own children? Do you have a link?

[Hoe Toe]

02:13 PM on 04/28/2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_suicide_bombers_in_the_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict

Really you have to ask for a link?

[VPutin]

06:32 PM on 04/28/2011

There you go again Yank in France not remembering Vietnam....

[ResistImperialism]

11:28 AM on 04/28/2011

Goodness its about time! Division will only strengthen the stranglehold of the Occupation Forces. There are Russians living in your homes, and you can't even go back to your homes where you had lived for millenia. Get your s**t together!!!!

[theuniversalcollective]

11:37 AM on 04/28/2011

Yes, they've been very adept at doing that these past 63 years, so much so , they've been ushered out of Israel entirely, placed on the sides of it like bookends, and they can't even make that work, allowing the Gaza Strip, which was cleared of all traces of Israelis, even Israeli graveyards were moved and plowed under, before allowing it to be overrun with Persian and Syrian terrorists of Hamas. They've ruined the place, their own place, for themselves, and their children once again. The only thing sadder than watching the palestinians try and fight , being as developmental disabled as they by all appearances seen to be, is watching brainiacs like you and the many posters below attempt to egg them on. LOL

[ResistImperialism]

12:11 PM on 04/28/2011

I think Palestinians made the mistake to think that one size fits all, not so....just because terrorist groups like Haganah and Lehi were successful in ethnic cleansing and aiding in the formation of Israel doesn't mean Palestinian terrorism will get them a state, sad fact.

[Sam Bark]

12:29 AM on 04/29/2011

resistImp -- Are the revolts in the surrounding Arab countries are also because of Israel...LMAO

[Mohammed Ramzan]

08:29 AM on 04/29/2011

to a point they are, purely and simply their governments supported the American and viz a vie the Israeli views on what was happening to the Palastinians

[Iconcoclast]

11:20 AM on 04/28/2011

Assuming that the Palestinians manage to refrain from attacking Israel over the next 6 months and gain UNSC recognition of their statehood, I wonder just how well a state split in two geographically disjoint regions will work out. As a separate country, the PA has no right to cross Israeli airspace or via ground transportation which would seem to make having the two regions one country extremely unstable.

It seems a similar problem to the one faced by Pakistan and ended up with Bangladesh seceding from Pakistan. I suspect that a similar outcome will occur here, though asking to join Egypt would probably make a lot more sense to the Gazans.

[theuniversalcollective]

11:24 AM on 04/28/2011

Don't tell them, but the Egyptians aren't going to want the headache of having to go to war with Israel when their newly acquired constituency in Gaza launches an Anti Tank Missile at the next school Bus, cause Israels taken the entire Sinai once before for security, and it wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The Palestinians are a wedge proposition for the Arabs and Persians but nobody wants the responsibility for them, much less the Palestinian leadership. It's sad, really.

[Iconcoclast]

11:34 AM on 04/28/2011

You are assuming that the Egyptians would be unable to control Gaza, which isn't necessarily true. The Muslim Brotherhood and other radical islamists in Egypt are making noises about protecting Gaza from Israel attack, which would allow Hamas/Fatah to drag Egypt into war. But will Egypt go to war with Israel for the benefit of people they won't allow trade?

Also, Egypt in general probably understands that Hamas is as likely to attack Egyptian political power centers as it is to attack Israel. Other than words and some supply help, just how likely is Egypt to help Gaza? As likely as Syria was to help Lebanon when Hezbollah started a war with Israel?

It is more interesting to ignore the political posturing of all parties and reflect upon naked self-interest with this potential change in the PA power structure.

[Parthiban Yahambaram]

10:31 AM on 04/28/2011

Hilarious to see our regular Hasbarist crowd making their usual threatening noises in here about how "the world" will not like this.

Wake up and smell the cappucino."The world" wants to see a just resolution to the conflict, and that includes the establishment of a State of Palestine. If you doubt that, just wait till September, when you will have a chance to see what "the world" (as opposed to the United States government) really thinks at the UN General Assembly.

[theuniversalcollective]

11:27 AM on 04/28/2011

Just resolution in Syria is the State going house to house with knives slaughtering anyone who happens to be there, Just resolution in Libya is their leader bombing them, Just resolution in Egypt is imprisonment, Just resolution in Bahrain is a firing squad, Just resolution in Yemen is stoning and hanging. So you are saying Israel should emulate the Just resolutions employed by EVERY SINGLE ARAB NATION in the world? Ok.

[Parthiban Yahambaram]

03:41 PM on 04/28/2011

I was going to reply to this comment, but really, its pointless.
Your remarks simply show everyone else what a hateful person you are.

[Sam Bark]

12:32 AM on 04/29/2011

parthiban -- did you join the Palsabarah..... ask for their pamphlets and union benefits...LoL

[Parthiban Yahambaram]

05:58 AM on 04/29/2011

No I didn't join anyone so I'm not entitled to any benefits. One does not need anything more than common sense and the innate sense of decency common to all civilised human beings to support Palestinian statehood - as so many decent Israelis do.

[cornel]

10:11 AM on 04/28/2011

Congrats ! The Egyptians are backing up the deal, very very good ! If Israel want the old peace treaty to hold with their neighbor, they better start observing the Human Rights rules !

[theuniversalcollective]

11:28 AM on 04/28/2011

The human rights as practiced in countries such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, The Sudan, and Iraq? OK, it's a deal.

[cornel]

11:46 AM on 04/28/2011

Since when does Israel compare itself to tyrannies and dictatorships ! But since you bring up that point, I suppose you consider Israel a Junta right ?