Palestine's Fatah and Hamas Unite in Russia-Brokered Govt Deal

After three days of reconciliation talks in Moscow, the main Palestinian parties Fatah, Hamas and others announced Tuesday a deal to form a national unity government prior to the holding of elections.

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"We have reached an agreement under which, within 48 hours, we will call on (Palestinian leader) Mahmoud Abbas to launch consultations on the creation of a government" of national unity, senior Fatah official Azzam Ahmad told a press conference.

After the government is formed, the Palestinians would set up a national council, which would include Palestinians in exile, and hold elections. "Today the conditions for (such an initiative) are better than ever," he added.

The non-official Russian-mediated talks in Moscow began Sunday with the goal of restoring "the unity of the Palestinian people." Representatives from Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions were present at the meetings over the weekend.

In 2016, the Palestinian government postponed the first municipal elections in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in 10 years after the Supreme Court ruled they should be held only in the Fatah-run West Bank.

The last time the Palestinians staged elections in which both Hamas and Fatah took part was in 2006, after which Hamas won and formed a government.

Encouraged by Israel, the U.S. spent millions of dollars setting up a Fatah unit loyal to Abbas to stage a coup against Hamas and push the democratically-elected government out of Gaza. Hamas took over Gaza in 2007 and the Palestinian enclave has since been under an Israeli blockade and attacked three times by Israel.

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The Palestinian representatives also met Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and asked him to urge incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to not carry out a campaign pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it — a move not recognized by the international community — declaring all of the city its unified capital. "We sensed understanding on the part of Mr. Lavrov," said Ahmad.

Ahmad and Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas slammed the so-called Quartet, the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations and its years-long effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, said he no longer wanted to work with the Quartet but instead with countries and organizations on an individual basis. "Russia can play a substantial role" in the region, he said.