Hamas, Fatah reps in Mecca, 2007
צילום: רויטרס
Egypt pressuring Hamas, Fatah to reconcile
Palestinians sources say agreement, which would maintain status quo until 2010, likely to go through, given unprecedented Egyptian efforts
Egypt is making unprecedented efforts to persuade Hamas and Fatah to sign a reconciliation agreement by July 7, 2009, Palestinian sources told Ynet Saturday. The sources said it was the first time that Egypt has applied serious pressure to both sides.
According to the sources, it appears that efforts this time around are likely to convince the sides to sign an agreement, although such an agreement would not actually bring the sides closer in terms of their differences. The sources say the agreement is meant to preserve the status quo until January of 2010.
Although there are elements of disagreement on basically all clauses of the agreement, the sources said that it constituted progress since Fatah representatives appeared willing to concede to Hamas' dominance in Gaza and Hamas appeared willing to concede Fatah control in the West Bank despite claiming that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are no longer legitimate Palestinian political leaders, legally.
"The objective is to get both sides to announce an end of hostilities between them until a mutually agreed upon election date, no later than January 2010," the sources said.
Fatah and Hamas have appeared close to reconciliation several times in the past, only to renew hostilities before signing an agreement. The sides signed a reconciliation agreement in Mecca in 2007, which was breached in a few, short weeks.
