The reconciliation agreement signed between rival Palestinian parties, Hamas and Fatah, in Cairo on October 12 was not a national unity accord – at least, not yet. For the latter to be achieved, the agreement would have to make the interests of the Palestinian people a priority, above factional agendas. The leadership crisis in Palestine is not new. It[Read More…]

It was with almost unseemly haste that Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian factions, announced that they had reached a preliminary unity agreement in Cairo on 12 October, after two days of negotiations. The deal has been greeted with some fanfare. Mahmoud Abbas, head of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, called it “a declaration of the end to division and a return to national Palestinian[Read More…]

  Damascus: Despite the 12/12/2017 announcement by rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah that a deal has been agreed to during this month’s Cairo Reconciliation talks and that details would be announced later, it is doubtful that substantive progress will result. Or that this time the results will differ much from the preceding half-dozen still-born ones over the past decade. When[Read More…]

  Egypt’s enthusiasm to arbitrate between feuding Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, is not the outcome of a sudden awakening of conscience. Cairo has, in fact, played a destructive role in manipulating Palestinian division to its favor, while keeping the Rafah border crossing under lock and key. However, the Egyptian leadership is clearly operating in coordination with Israel and the[Read More…]