On the Carter visit

According to Palestinian sources, former US President Jimmy Carter is expected to visit the Gaza Strip next Thursday in an effort to reach an internal reconciliation sponsored by Saudi Arabia, similar to the Makkah Agreement. For his part, former Hamas Prime Minister and Deputy Head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, revealed a few days ago that he received positive signs regarding reconciling relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

We know that the internal reconciliation portfolio has been monopolised by the Egyptians for many years, forbidding any other mediator to interfere in any manner. This was obvious when Turkey and Qatar each tried to participate in calming the situation between Fatah and Hamas. Egypt also firmly confronted the PLO’s attempt to join Egypt in its role as mediator, let alone replace it. However, Haniyeh’s statements indicate that Egypt has agreed to hand over the issue to Saudi Arabia. This is explicitly confirmed by a statement made by member of Fatah’s National Revolutionary Council, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, who said that the Palestinian leadership is aware of Carter’s efforts to achieve a Palestinian reconciliation based on the Makkah Agreement, and that the leadership has welcomed these steps and hope they will result in success. This is a radical development in the PLO’s position on the sponsorship of the reconciliation file.

The US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Palestine are not all meeting and agreeing only for the sake of the internal reconciliation, as the reconciliation alone cannot be the main issue for which all of these parties meet directly, in addition to with other parties they may be meeting indirectly, such as Israel.

There are greater and more comprehensive agreements that are being reached behind the scenes; agreements that have been in the state of negotiations since the resistance was victorious in “Operation Protective Edge”. It is strange that this was not clearly reflected in the Gaza Strip, other than by some Israeli facilitation. We have also not seen any significant impact on the relations between Fatah and Hamas other than some activities carried out by the national unity government, including visits to the Gaza Strip. Our people are hoping to see the end of the tunnel, and it would not harm the Palestinian leadership if it were kind to its people by providing them with some good omens or measures that may alleviate some of the suffering endured by the people in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially the Gaza Strip.

Translated from the Palestinian Information Centre on 28 April 2015.

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