CAIRO: The Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah met here yesterday to try to overcome their differences and strengthen their hand for upcoming talks with Israel.
Unless resolved, the rift between the two could threaten the Egyptian-mediated effort to turn the ceasefire agreed with Israel last month that halted the Gaza conflict into a lasting truce.
Hamas official Izzat Risheq said the discussion had taken place in a “positive atmosphere” but he declined to give details, saying the delegations hoped to do so at the end of a second day of meetings today.
Risheq said Palestinian unity was essential to face the Israeli occupation. Such cooperation between the divided factions could help the Palestinians secure better terms from Israel at next month’s talks.
The split between the Islamist movement Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah relates to several issues including control of Hamas-run Gaza. The ceasefire struck between Israel and the Palestinians included stipulations that the Palestinian Authority, led by Abbas, should take over civil administration in Gaza from Hamas.
But a dispute over the Palestinian Authority’s non-payment of salaries to Gaza’s public sector workers has brought tensions between the two main Palestinian factions to near-breaking point.
Israel and the Palestinians agreed on Tuesday to resume talks late next month on cementing a Gaza ceasefire. “There are lots of parties that do not want the talks towards the unity government and prefer division to continue,” Risheq said. Sakher Bseiso, a Fatah central committee member taking part in the Cairo talks, said Fatah and Hamas were discussing issues including security, elections and governance of Gaza.
Egypt’s state media agency MENA said the talks were held under the supervision of Egyptian intelligence chief Mohamed Farid el-Tohamy. Efforts to cement a permanent truce could prove difficult, though, with the sides far apart on their central demands, even if the dialogue among Palestinians yields a unified position.
Azzam Al Ahmed, a Fatah official leading the joint delegation, said on Tuesday that as well as control of Gaza, Fatah wants decisions on war and peace to be taken at the national level rather than by individual factions. Reuters
