Fatah, Hamas agree to resume dialogue
Representatives of rival Palestinian factions sign deal promising to revive direct talks in bid to bridge gaps after months of hostilities. Both sides say they are still far from agreement returning situation to what it was before Hamas took over Gaza
Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas on Sunday signed a Yemeni-sponsored agreement to resume the dialogue between them. The al-Jazeera television network reported that the sides agreed to revive talks and "to return the Palestinian situation to what it was before the Gaza incidents."
Sources both in Hamas and Fatah told Ynet that the agreement was aimed at resuming the dialogue between the factions based on the Yemeni initiative. Both sides said, however, that it was unclear when the talks would be resumed.
Yemen seeks to reach an agreement that will stress the unity of the Palestinians people, territory and authority.
Sources in Fatah said that any dialogue which would not include the return of the control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas would be irrelevant. On the other hand, Hamas sources said they were ready for a dialogue without preconditions.
Both sides said they were still far from reaching an agreement on returning to the situation to what it was before Hamas took over Gaza.
A Hamas source said that any dialogue would have to be based on a full partnership with Hamas in the PLO institutions and the establishment of a unity government based on previous agreements between the sides, the understandings reached in the Cairo agreement and the prisoners' document.
In addition, Hamas demanded that the movement become a full partner in rebuilding the Palestinian security organizations, both in the Strip and in the West Bank.
It appears that in spite of the statements, which mainly serve the Yemeni leadership on the eve of the Arab summit, the road to reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is still long.
Hamas sources said that Israel and the United States would not allow Abbas to embark on a real move of reconciliation and a dialogue based on a partnership and unity, and that the return to the previous situation in Gaza as Fatah saw it was impossible.
Dr. Mousa Abu Marzuk, Hamas' deputy politburo chief, who headed the organization's delegation to Yemen, said that "the two sides agreed that the Yemeni initiative would server as a framework for a dialogue, but there are no agreements in regards to the details."
He added that a date for the resumption of the dialogue had not been set. According to Abu Marzouk, returning to the situation before the coup would also mean, as far as Hamas was concerned, returning to the previous situation in the West Bank, including a Hamas-led government.
Yemen talks: Days of crises
On Saturday, the reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas had appeared to have stalled, as the two sides wrangled over proposals about the future of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Under a draft agreement from the Yemen-sponsored talks, Hamas and Fatah would have agreed to hold negotiations in early April about a Yemeni plan calling for the situation in the Gaza Strip to return to the way it was before Hamas took it over.
A Hamas source said the group asked that the same should apply to the West Bank, where the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has dismissed a Hamas-led government and arrested some Hamas supporters.
The issue of the future of Gaza has been a main point of contention, with Fatah demanding that Hamas Islamists give up control of the territory, which the group seized in June after routing Fatah forces.
The plan also envisages Palestinian elections, the creation of another unity government and a rebuilding of Palestinian security forces along national rather than factional lines.
Fatah has said it would agree to direct reconciliation talks with Hamas only if Hamas first consented to relinquish its hold on the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.
Roee Nahmias and Reuters contributed to this report
