BICOM

Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders will travel to Gaza next week to begin preparations to take over responsibility for governing the Strip.

PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and several of his security chiefs will arrive on Monday and Hamdallah will host the PA Government’s weekly cabinet meeting in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The move is part of the agreement between the PA, controlled by PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, and Hamas to implement a unity government.

On Tuesday Hamdallah stressed that once “the [PA] Government is handed its responsibilities in Gaza, its work will be comprehensive and effective”.

He added that his Government “decided to form a number of ministerial committees tasked with handling the handover process of the crossings, security and government departments,” which will also address “the impact and repercussions of the split, as well as all of the subsequent civil, administrative and legal issues, obstacles and challenges”.

On 17 September, Hamas announced the dissolution of its “administrative committee,” which was perceived by the PA as a shadow government. Since Hamas made its announcement it has not clarified if is ready to give up its weapons and dissolve its military wing.

Several reconciliation agreements between Fatah and Hamas have been announced and signed in the past without being implemented, mainly due to Hamas refusing to cede control of Gaza’s security.

On Thursday Senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk said Hamas is not prepared to discuss the dissolution of its military wing during talks with the PA.

Speaking to the Turkish news agency Al-Andalous Marzouk said: “This issue [of Hamas disarming] is not up for discussion, not previously and neither will it be in the future. The weapons of the resistance are for the protection of the Palestinian people, and it is inconceivable that Hamas will lay down its weapons as long as its land is occupied and its people dispersed.”

The Quartet (US, Russia, EU and UN) has welcomed the PA’s return to the Gaza Strip. It said renewed PA control over Gaza “is critical for efforts to reach lasting peace,” urging the “parties to take concrete steps to reunite Gaza and the West Bank under the legitimate Palestinian Authority”.