Palestinian factions reach unity plan after 10-year split

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After a ten-year break, rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a reconciliation agreement. Under the deal, administrative control of Gaza will be handed to a Fatah-led unity government. Egypt brokered the talks – seen as a major breakthrough.

Head of Hamas delegation Saleh Arouri hugs Fatah leader Azzam Ahmad as they sign a reconciliation deal in Cairo, Egypt, October 12, 2017. /Reuters Photo‍

Hamas and Fatah, the two biggest Palestinian factions said they will commit to making a reconciliation government succeed in taking full authority over both the Gaza strip and the West Bank.

Head of the Fatah delegation, Azzam al-Ahmed said: “Everything has been scheduled, a firm deadline has been agreed upon for every step. President Abo Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) has told us not to return without a comprehensive agreement. We must fold the division page forever to unify the efforts of all Palestinians to achieve the Palestinian dream.”

“We are ready and prepared to do what it takes to put a permanent end to the reconciliation issue. To focus our efforts against the Zionist project that is trying to diminish our rights. And to achieve the aspirations of our Palestinian people for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Salah al-Arouri, head of the Hamas delegation and deputy chief said.

The Egyptian Intelligence bureau brokered this deal and has been assigned the duty of following up on the implementation of the new agreement.

A girl is carried as Palestinians celebrate after Hamas said it reached a deal with Palestinian rival Fatah, in Gaza City, October 12, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Hamas said that the reconciliation government will be allowed to spread its security troops in Gaza and that the Palestinian Presidential Guard will take control of the Strip’s passages with Egypt and Israel that should relieve both countries.

Egypt will host another meeting on November 21, which will include all Palestinian factions in the 2011 Cairo agreement, to give this new deal national legitimacy among all powers in Gaza and the West Bank.