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Hamas, Fatah report ‘huge progress’ in forming unity government
Senior representatives from Hamas and Fatah met in the Gaza Strip yesterday and said they had made significant progress in constructing the unity government which they last month agreed to form.
The unity pact was announced in late April and prompted Israel to suspend peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) headed by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, given that Hamas rejects any cooperation with Israel and remains ideologically committed to its destruction. Abbas has since suggested that the unity government would be a nominally apolitical technocratic government, but Israel insists that Hamas itself must explicitly renounce violence and recognise Israel.
Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed travelled to Gaza yesterday to meet with his Hamas counterparts. Fatah spokesman Fayez Abu Atiyeh told the Ma’an news agency that the meeting was designed to further implementation of the unity deal. Senior Hamas official Salah Al-Bardaweel said that the focus of discussions was on the formation of a national unity government. The Jerusalem Post says a joint statement by Fatah and Hamas said that “huge and positive progress” was made in implementing the agreement.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, a statement by European Union (EU) foreign ministers said that they “consistently supported intra-Palestinian reconciliation on clear and certain terms” and that the EU would continue to support, including financially, a Palestinian government “composed of independent figures” so long as it commits itself to non-violence, reaching a two-state solution and adherence to previous obligations, “including Israel’s legitimate right to exist.”
Foreign backing for a new Palestinian unity government is extremely important to the PA, especially in light of a report in Yediot Ahronot which said earlier this week that the PA is in financial crisis, with a deficit scheduled to reach £771 million by the end of 2014. The PA itself remains the largest employer of Palestinians in the West Bank and the report says late or partial salaries will soon become reality.