Palestinian prime minister arrives in the Gaza Strip amid hopes for reconciliation
Qatar after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain imposed an economic boycott over its support for terrorism also played a role.
According to Palestinian media reports, Mr Hamdallah said after crossing from Israel into Gaza that “we return to Gaza for the sake of achieving reconciliation, national unity and ending the division. We declare to the world from the heart of Gaza that the Palestinian state cannot be without unity of the West Bank and Gaza”.
He called for reconciliation to overcome narrow party differences, saying the only beneficiary of the division is the Israeli occupation.
Mr Hamdallah promised that the government would focus on rebuilding Gaza from devastation wrought by Israeli bombardments in the 2014 war and work to improve living conditions hampered by a decade of an Israeli and Egyptian partial blockade.
“The time has come to work for ending the suffering of Gaza and its people and we are preparing a series of steps for this.”
He said the government had formed committees for taking up its mission and responsibilities in Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Fawzy Barhoum said that he was optimistic about the success of reconciliation, citing “unprecedented Palestinian will by all parties”.
He said Hamas would push for the success of talks with Fatah under Egyptian supervision next week in Cairo that will follow up the restart of the PA government in Gaza.
A major challenge will be to reconcile – if at all possible – Mr Abbas and the PA’s desire for full security control of Gaza with Hamas’s insistence that Izzedin Al Qassam be left intact so that it can resist Israel.
Hamas leader Yihya Sinwar boasted over the weekend of the brigades’ ability to barrage Tel Aviv with many rockets in a short period of time.
“The Palestinian leadership doesn’t want to reach a situation where the Qassam brigades control the situation in the Gaza Strip like Hizbollah does in Lebanon,” said Ashraf Ajrami, a former PA minister for prisoner affairs. “They want a united security services without having double security services.”
Mr Ajrami said it is possible, however, that to allow the reconciliation to proceed, Mr Abbas will agree that the Qassam brigades keep their weapons for now as long as they do not interfere with the PA government or take action that could cause war with Israel.
Meanwhile, West Bank politicians voiced optimism yesterday about the reconciliation attempt. “Hamas and Fatah are serious,” said Palestinian legislative council deputy speaker Hasan Khreisheh, an independent. “Hamas needs Egypt and needs to open the borders, while the authority wants to show America and Israel that they represent all Palestinian people whether in Gaza or the West Bank. ”