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News > World

Palestinian Reconciliation Clashes With Factional Divisions

  • A demonstration in support of the Palestinian people, 2022.

    A demonstration in support of the Palestinian people, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @Rehan_Alfarra

Published 3 October 2022
Opinion

Disagreements persist. While Hamas requires reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Fatah insists on forming a national unity government.

The Palestinian reconciliation issue has once again come into the spotlight as senior officials of 14 Palestinian factions are meeting in Algeria on Sunday, hoping to end the more than 15 years of internal Palestinian division.

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Over the last few days, Algeria held separate meetings with officials of Hamas, the ruling faction of the Gaza Strip, and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, to hear their vision for the success of reconciliation. Still, neither side accepts the vision of the other.

Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, requires reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), while Fatah, whose leadership in the West Bank is accepted by the international community, insists on forming a national unity government that respects the conditions laid out by the United Nations, the U.S., the EU and Russia, which include condemning violence and recognizing Israel and the signed peace agreements.

During a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee held in Ramallah on Friday, Abbas confirmed that Fatah would respond to the reconciliation efforts made by Egypt and other Arab nations and work to make them a success in Palestinian reconciliation. 

But he stressed that Palestinian reconciliation has to be based on the UN resolutions and the recognition of the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

Fatah accused Israel "and some regional and international powers" of not wanting a reconciliation because "keeping this division serves their interest and obstructs efforts to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Munzer Hayek, Fatah spokesman in Gaza, said that the movement had presented its vision for reconciliation in Algeria, which starts with unifying the institutions of the Palestinian Authority before going to the issue of PLO.

The presence of the Fatah delegation in Algeria was preceded by the arrival of a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas' Arab and Islamic Relations Office, along with Maher Salah and Hussam Badran, members of Hamas Political Bureau. The Hamas delegation held meetings with an Algerian team specialized in the Palestinian issue.

Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that Hamas presented an integrated vision of reconciliation in harmony with most Palestinian factions, hoping the Fatah delegation would have the same positive spirit toward ending the internal division.

Sunday's meeting comes as a culmination of the call of Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune during a meeting with Abbas in Algeria at the end of last year.

On Dec. 7, 2021, Tebboune announced that his country would host Palestinian factions to unify the Palestinian ranks. He decided to grant Palestine a financial contribution of US$100 million, which was welcomed by the Palestinians. The meeting in Algeria is a significant opportunity for the factions to reach an agreement on a unified Palestinian reference to confront Israeli policies.

Hani al-Masri, a political analyst from Ramallah, said that reconciliation and unification of various factions "is a necessary step to confront the Israeli plans, which are becoming increasingly fierce and extreme in an attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause." In fact, what prevents a breakthrough in the Palestinian national unity over the past years "is the priority of individual and factional interests over the national interest."

The Palestinians have been suffering from an internal division since the summer of 2007, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's security forces. Several agreements sponsored by Arab mediators have failed to achieve reconciliation.

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