Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has sought to reassure the United States and Israel that he will continue to handle diplomacy as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and that any future government set up under the accord will follow his policies. In remarks when the reconciliation deal was signed, he reiterated his renunciation of violence.
But critical details of the accord remain to be hammered out. One of the thorniest will be the platform of the new Palestinian government, whose appointees are to be agreed between Fatah, headed by Abbas, and Hamas, a militant Islamist group considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.
The positions Hamas takes as part of the shared government are likely to determine whether the new Palestinian administration will continue to receive U.S. and other foreign aid, and whether it will be accepted as a partner for diplomacy and peace talks.
Under conditions set by the United States and other members of the Middle East mediation group known as the Quartet, Hamas must recognize Israel, accept previous agreements with it and renounce violence if it is to be a partner to negotiations.
Although Hamas has not met those conditions, Munib al-Masri, a prominent businessman and one of the mediators of the unity pact, said in an interview that the group “came a long way” in aligning its positions with those of Fatah.
Masri and other independent mediators said the two factions have agreed to coordinate diplomacy and the confrontation with Israel, reining in further use of violence.
“This is very important and provides a fantastic opportunity for real peace with all Palestinians, not just some of them,” said Mustafa Barghouti, an independent politician and activist who helped mediate the accord.
The outlines of the new consensus were reflected in public remarks when the pact, brokered by Egypt, was signed in Cairo.
Khaled Mashal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, took a step away from his group’s charter, which envisions an Islamic state in the entire area of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and talked of a Palestinian state in the territories bordering Israel.
He said Hamas and Fatah had agreed to work toward the goal of “an independent and completely sovereign Palestinian state on the lands of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jerusalem as its capital, without a single settler, without giving up a single inch, and without giving up the right of return” of Palestinian refugees to their former homes in Israel.
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