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Palestinian unity government agreed, Hamas remains dedicated to ‘resistance’
Fatah and Hamas jointly announced yesterday that they have agreed on the composition of a Palestinian unity government, with formal confirmation expected on Thursday.
In April, the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas announced that they had agreed to form a unity government. The move prompted Israel to suspend peace talks with the PA, given that Hamas remains committed to Israel’s destruction. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since then made it clear that there will be no peace negotiations with a government backed by Hamas, unless the organisation itself repudiates violence and embraces peace.
Abbas though has claimed that a unity government will be comprised of apolitical technocrats, rather than those affiliated ideologically to any faction. Yesterday, senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed and Hamas counterpart Musa Abu Marzouk told reporters in the Gaza Strip that agreement had been reached and that Abbas would announce the make-up of the new government in Ramallah on Thursday. Abu Marzouk said that the new unity government will be headed by current PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, who will also be Interior Minister. The Washington Post reports that Hamas’s Deputy Prime Minister Ziad al-Zaza said that its Gaza authority “is ready to hand over its full responsibilities to the unity government.”
International leaders, including those from the United States and Europe, have made clear that the new Palestinian government must adhere to the conditions set out by the Middle East Quartet; namely to recognise Israel, renounce violence and adhere to previous Israel-Palestinian agreements. However, there was little indication that Hamas, classified as a terror organisation by the United States and European Union, is set to embrace these guidelines. Yesterday, Hamas’s Prime Minister in Gaza Ismael Haniyeh said that, “Palestinian reconciliation aims to unite the Palestinian people against the prime enemy, the Zionist enemy. It aims to pursue the choice of resistance and steadfastness.”