Fatah and Hamas on verge of unity government

The two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas, appear on the verge of forming a historic unity government as president Mahmoud Abbas named a prime minister agreed by the two sides yesterday.

The announcement brings Palestinians a substantial step closer to a final reconciliation between Mr Abbas’s Fatah and Hamas, which set up separate governments in 2007 after Hamas took control of Gaza after a sweeping win in elections that Fatah and the West refused to recognise.

A unity government backed by Hamas would be a popular move with Palestinians but could pose challenges both to any attempt to revive a peace process with Israel and to the Palestinian Authority's foreign aid donors including the US and EU. It could also bring threats of punitive measures from the government of the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

Thursday's deadline for naming the new unity government was set five weeks ago after Fatah and Hamas agreed to a unity government and the promise of long-delayed elections. Mr Abbas appointed Rami Hamdallah, prime minister in the West Bank, as chief minister in the new arrangement and said he had asked him to form a government.

Any unity government that has the backing of Hamas, say both Israeli and western officials, will usher in significant and complex issues. Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition has made clear it will not negotiate with a government backed by Hamas.

Vatican meeting

Israeli president Shimon Peres and Mr Abbas will meet at the Vatican and pray for peace together on June 8, the Vatican said yesterday.

Pope Francis invited the two leaders to hold an unprecedented prayer meeting during his trip to the Holy Land last week. – (Guardian service; Reuters)