Palestinian political rivals to establish reconciliation committee

Palestinian political rivals have decided to establish a reconciliation committee in an attempt to heal the 17-year rift that has divided the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Israeli-blockaded Gaza.

President Mahmoud Abbas – who heads Fatah, the dominant political party in the West Bank – met Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, and representatives of other factions with the declared aim of unifying Palestinian ranks.

Mr Abbas called the meeting “a first and important step” and expressed the hope of achieving “desired goals as soon as possible”. He said: “We must return to a single state, a single system, a single law and a single legitimate army.”

To encourage a breakthrough, Egypt convened the gathering in the coastal city of El-Alamein, site of the 1942 Allied victory against the Axis powers in the North African campaign of the second World War.

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Expectations had been high since Mr Abbas and Mr Haniyeh met last week in Ankara. Mr Abbas and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also held discussions before the meeting.

The Fatah-Hamas split came after Hamas, the militant movement that governs Gaza, won a majority in the Palestinian parliament in the 2006 election. The rift deepened after Hamas expelled Fatah-dominated security forces from Gaza in 2007. Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia have tried and failed to broker enduring reconciliation. Mr Abbas and Fatah have resisted sharing power with Hamas, which is branded a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, Britain and the European Union.

Mr Haniyeh said “a new, inclusive parliament must be formed on the basis of free democratic elections” and called on Mr Abbas to end “security collaboration with Israel”. In 2021, Mr Abbas cancelled elections that it appeared Fatah might lose and he has repeatedly suspended and resumed security co-operation with Israel. Another militant group, Islamic Jihad, did not attend the gathering and Hamas have called for release of prisoners from their movements held by Mr Abbas’s security forces.

Mr Abbas has come under unprecedented pressure to reconcile with Hamas and hold elections. Since last month’s 48-hour Israeli offensive against the West Bank city of Jenin, he has been forced to pause contacts and security co-operation with Israel. He was condemned when Palestinian security forces did not defend Jenin alongside another resistance group, the Jenin brigades.

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After Israeli forces withdrew and he paid his first visit to the camp in 12 years to reassert Palestinian Authority relevance, Mr Abbas was surrounded by bodyguards.

On Sunday, Hamas also came under popular pressure to deliver change when several thousand Palestinians protested over electricity outages and deteriorating living conditions in Gaza.

Meanwhile, in south Lebanon’s Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, weekend fighting between Fatah and fundamentalists continued on Monday.