Joy and caution in Gaza after Palestinian unity agreement

GAZA: It didn’t take long after the fireworks smoke cleared in Gaza for some Palestinians to question whether a unity deal between their two most powerful factions would hold.

Thousands took to the streets overnight celebrating the pact between Fatah and Hamas sealed in Cairo. Loudspeakers blasted national songs as youngsters waving Palestinian and Egyptian flags danced and hugged one another.

“I am happy, no I am the happiest,” Ali Metwaly, 30, a computer engineer, said the morning after. “But I am still afraid it will end in disappointment. My leaders have taught me they can easily disappoint us. I hope they don’t, this time.”

Under the reconciliation pact, Hamas is handing over administrative control of Gaza, including the Rafah border crossing – once the main gateway to the world for the two million Palestinians in the territory – to a government backed by the mainstream Fatah party.

A decade ago, Hamas forces seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in a brief civil war. Past Egyptian mediation attempts to reconcile the two rivals failed to achieve lasting results. The latest clinched its elusive agreement after an economic squeeze on Hamas.

Analysts said the deal was more likely to stick than earlier ones, given Hamas’s growing isolation and realisation of how hard Gaza – its economy hobbled by border blockades and infrastructure shattered by wars with Israel – was to govern and rebuild.

Control of the Gaza border crossings with Israel and Egypt by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, could allow freer movement of people and goods across the frontier.

And under the agreement, about 3 000 Fatah security officers are to join the Gaza police force, although Hamas would remain the most powerful armed Palestinian faction, with around 25 000 wellequipped militants.

Hamas and Fatah are also debating a potential date for presidential and legislative elections and reforms of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, in charge of long-stalled peace efforts with Israel.

The last Palestinian legislative election was in 2006, when Hamas scored a surprise victory. That triggered the political rupture between Hamas and Fatah, which led to their short civil war in Gaza. – Reuters

PICTURE: EPA A Palestinian waves the flags of Palestine and Egypt during a celebration after rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas movements reached an agreement to end a decade-long split in the streets of Gaza City on Thursday.