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Fatah: No choice but to reconcile with Hamas

January 12, 2017 at 11:09 am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pose with Fatah congress in Ramallah, West Bank on December 5, 2016 [Palestinian Presidency/ Handout /Anadolu Agency]

A Palestinian Fatah official said that his movement has “no other choice than to end the internal Palestinian division” and reach a reconciliation with their Hamas political rivals.

Political and geographic divisions have been prevalent in territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) since mid-June 2007 after Hamas gained control of the Gaza Strip following a failed Fatah-Israeli coup attempt.

This occurred amid disputes between Hamas and Fatah, the two largest factions in the Palestinian arena.

The Fatah official, Mohammad Shtayyeh, who is also a member of the Fatah Central Committee, told Turkish state media Anadolu, “last month, Fatah made the decision to achieve reconciliation.”

“None of the members in the movement objected to the reconciliation decision. Based on this, Fatah took the initiative and called for convening the Palestinian National Council [considered the PLO’s parliament]…we have no choice but to end the division.”

At the end of its meetings in Beirut yesterday, a committee in the Palestinian National Council announced: “The attendees agreed to implement the internal reconciliation agreements and understandings, starting with forming a national unity government that will exercise its authority in all the PA territories.”

The cross-party committee also called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to begin negotiations with all political forces in order to form a national unity government.