Lieberman to Ashton: Hamas-Fatah reconciliation gives Hamas opening for West Bank takeover. Is Israel Expected to Negotiate with a Hamas-Fatah Government? It’s a simple question, and yet Obama administration officials are continuing to dance around the answer. Last week, the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent asked David Axelrod whether Israel would be expected to negotiate with a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas, and here was Axelrod’s response: “The president does not believe that any country can be asked to negotiate with a terrorist organization that is sworn to its destruction and unwilling to abandon that goal or embrace a peaceful settlement of the conflict,” [Axelrod] said. “He could not have been clearer about that.”
But the question wasn’t whether Israel would be expected to negotiate with Hamas. We don’t know because, as far as I’ve seen, the administration hasn’t definitively said. “No country can be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization sworn to its destruction,” Obama said during his AIPAC speech. Fatah and Hamas Sign Palestinian Reconciliation Pact. How Hamas-Fatah unity could break Middle East deadlock | Daniel Levy.
For the better part of 20 years, the policies of Fatah (the leading faction within the Palestine Liberation Organisation) have been predictable to the point of tedium. This week in Cairo, in agreeing to a unity and power-sharing deal with Hamas, Fatah surprised. Yes, Palestinian national reconciliation has been tried before, fleetingly and unenthusiastically, following a Saudi-brokered arrangement in spring 2007, and it may again unravel. But this time, Fatah's move appears to be a more calculated and profound break with past practice – and the anticipated opprobrium of the US seems to weigh less heavily. Gaining traction for that formula was a marketing challenge under the military-fatigued Yasser Arafat, but he was replaced over six years ago by the unequivocally peace-credentialled Mahmoud Abbas.
And still, the Palestinians kept doubling down on that formula in the face of failure. The test results are in. The Fatah-Hamas deal will, inevitably, meet with a rocky reception in the US. The Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Agreement. Fatah and Hamas sign reconciliation deal - Middle East. Fatah, the Palestinian political organisation, has reached an agreement with its rival Hamas on forming an interim government and fixing a date for a general election, Egyptian intelligence has said. In February, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and a member of Fatah, called for presidential and legislative elections before September, in a move which was rejected by Hamas at the time. "The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement on Wednesday.
The deal, which took many officials by surprise, was thrashed out in Egypt and followed a series of secret meetings. "The two sides signed initial letters on an agreement. All points of differences have been overcome," Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas government spokesman in Gaza, told the Reuters news agency. 'Geopolitical situation' 'Bitter split' Abkommen: Hamas und Fatah besiegeln ihre Versöhnung - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten - Politik. Kairo - Nach vier Jahren haben die palästinensischen Gruppen Fatah und Hamas ein Versöhnungsabkommen unterzeichnet.
Das erklärten beide Seiten am Mittwoch in Kairo. Der palästinensische Präsident Mahmud Abbas sagte, die Vereinbarung beende "vier schwarze Jahre", die den nationalen Interessen der Palästinenser geschadet hätten. Er kündigte einen baldigen Besuch im von der Hamas kontrollierten Gaza-Streifen an. Allerdings verspätete sich die Besiegelung der innerpalästinensischen Aussöhnung. Auslöser war ein Streit um die Sitzordnung, wie die Nachrichtenagentur dpa aus Delegationskreisen erfuhr.
Das Abkommen zwischen der Fatah und der islamischen Hamas beendet eine mehrjährige Periode bitterer Feindschaft. News verfolgen HilfeLassen Sie sich mit kostenlosen Diensten auf dem Laufenden halten: alles aus der Rubrik Politik. Nahost: Fatah und Hamas auf Versöhnungskurs | Politik. Die beiden verfeindeten Palästinenserorganisationen haben überraschend ein Versöhnungsabkommen unterzeichnet. Israel und die USA reagierten skeptisch. Speichern Drucken Twitter Facebook Google + Ein Mann demonstriert für die Einheit der palästinensischen Gruppen in Gaza-Stadt. | © Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters Die rivalisierenden Palästinensergruppen Fatah und Hamas haben sich überraschend auf die Bildung einer Einheitsregierung und einen Wahltermin geeinigt.
Darunter seien auch Fragen zum Grenzverlauf und der Sicherheit. Anzeige Israel reagierte ablehnend. Palästinensische Experten äußerten sich skeptisch über das Versöhnungsabkommen. Andererseits könnte die Einigung Hoffnungen wecken, dass der festgefahrene Friedensprozesses mit Israel wiederbelebt wird. Die Beziehungen zwischen Fatah und Hamas hatten sich nach den Wahlen 2006 dramatisch verschlechtert. Im vergangenen Monat hatte Hamas erstmals seit vier Jahren einem Besuch von Abbas im Gazastreifen zugestimmt. Versöhnung zwischen Hamas und Fatah - Vereint in Zwietracht - Politik. Anzeige Die Hamas und die Fatah haben ein Versöhnungsabkommen unterzeichnet, um den palästinensischen Bruderkampf beenden. Die Motive der verfeindeten Parteien sind klar. Doch wie weit die Lager auseinander liegen, zeigte sich schon in den Reaktionen auf den Tod von Osama bin Laden.
Die ersten Gäste sind schon da, zum Fest der Versöhnung werden in Kairo die Tische gedeckt: Am Mittwoch wollen die Hamas und die Fatah den palästinensischen Bruderkampf beenden. Klar sind zunächst einmal nur die Motive der beiden palästinensischen Parteien. Die Hamas auf der anderen Seite, für die der in Damaskus residierende Exilführer Khaled Meschal unterschreiben will, hofft zum einen auf eine Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen im Gaza-Streifen, weil die Bevölkerung angesichts der israelischen Blockade zunehmend unruhig wird. Vereinbart ist bislang, dass nach dem Versöhnungsabkommen binnen eines Jahres Wahlen abgehalten werden. Lob dem "heiligem Krieger" Rival Fatah, Hamas movements reach unity deal.
Fatah, Hamas rivals reach deal NEW: A Palestinian protest last month sought Fatah-Hamas unityAn expert says the announcement marks "a very big deal"But the two factions may be acting out of fear that the Arab world's uprisings could hit them, tooIsrael says Fatah must pick peace with Hamas or with Israel (CNN) -- The politically divided Palestinian territories took a major step toward reconciliation Wednesday when the rival movements of Hamas and Fatah announced a deal to form a unity government, officials from both groups said. The move comes amid international efforts for statehood advanced by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. It could portend unity in the fractious Palestinian territories. The two political factions have been close to civil war, culminating in 2007 when Hamas took control of Gaza after deadly fighting with Fatah partisans. "If it goes through, it's a very big deal," Gelvin said of the agreement.
"A lot depends on the fine print," Brown added. Hamas and Israel: Captives of war and peace. Much contemporary thinking on the recent Israel-Hamas prisoner swap is riddled with mistaken attempts to discern who the winners and losers are. The prisoner swap is a test. It tests not just endurance in the pursuit of immutable goals. More importantly, the swap also tests whether Hamas and Israel could directly negotiate for peace. But first, a word must be said about peace in the age of Arab revolution. It remains to be seen how revolution in low politics leads to a revolution in high politics. In the Gulf, the Iranians and Saudis engage yet again in performative acts of sabre-rattling. The question of soft power and its enabling potential - as attested to by the freedom negotiated for Gilad Shalit and 1,027 Palestinian prisoners - busts archetypal thinking about a disorderly Arab Spring.
The Mubarak-Suleiman-Dahlan crew was not interested in the idea of a prisoner swap. Artful diplomacy There are no politics without a set of durable objectives and guidelines. Cascading goodwill. Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Agreement: Possibilities and Challenges. After four years of discussions, the Fatah and Hamas movements agreed to reconciliation last week. What are the meanings of this agreement, together with the possibilities and challenges it may face on the local, regional and international levels? Hamas_haniyeh After four years of discussions, the Fatah and Hamas movements agreed to reconciliation last week.With facilitation of the Egyptian caretaker government, the two parties agreed to the formation of a temporary technocratic government, elections within a year and joint responsibility for Palestinian security forces, amongst other things. It was further promised that Palestinian political prisoners held by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip would be released.
Palestinian Authority President Muhammad Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will be invited to Cairo within a week for final signature of the agreement. Will the Palestinian political structure be reformed? Palestinian factions agree on unity - Middle East. Palestinian factions have agreed to establish five committees to address key issues for unity. The Egyptian-brokered talks in Cairo between 12 Palestinian factions began on Thursday and follow 18 months of disharmony between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
At a news conference after the talks Ahmed Qurei, a senior Fatah official, said that the moves were a "national necessity and a response to the aspirations of our people. " The five committees established at the meeting will deal with issues including the formation of a unity goverrnment, rebuilding institutions, establishing presidential and legislative elections, security services, and reconciliation. The immediate release of political detainees in Gaza and the West Bank was also promised. 'National necessity' Walid al-Awad, a member of the political bureau of the communist People's Party, said that the committees would begin working on March 10 for, at most, the remainder of the month. 'Real breakthrough' Differences of approach.