Palestinian factions set for Gaza power transfer
THE PALESTINIAN Authority is set to regain civilian control of the Gaza Strip under a landmark deal agreed between Fatah and Hamas, but key security issues remain unresolved.
Senior officials arrived in the territory on Sunday to begin transferring responsibility for Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt under the agreement between the two Palestinian factions.
Israel vowed not to negotiate with any resulting unity government that included Hamas but a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the reconciliation would proceed regardless.
Under last week’s Fatah-Hamas deal, all matters of civilian governance in Gaza should pass to the Palestinian Authority by the end of this month.
But Hamas has not relinquished its arsenal of arms and rockets — a public demand by Mr Abbas — and will not hand over control of an extensive tunnel network it has built under Gaza.
According to Arab and Israeli media reports, the agreement signed last week in Cairo included a secret clause where Hamas committed to halt its attacks on Israelis in the West Bank.
Egyptian and Palestinian sources confirmed the clause had been agreed under pressure from Egypt. Analysts noted the significance of the Cairo deal being signed by Hamas’s deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri, who has been designated as the group’s “West Bank military commander”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it would not engage with any resulting unity government.
“Following previous decisions, the Israeli government will not hold political talks with a Palestinian government that is supported by Hamas, a terror organisation calling for the destruction of Israel,” a statement said.
But the announcement will have little immediate effect because Israel and the Palestinians are not currently engaged in negotiations.