The factions Hamas and Fatah, as well as other Palestinian groups, on Wednesday signed an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement in Cairo. Israel called the deal a blow to the peace process and called on the leader of Fatah and president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to cancel it. Abbas and the exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal, were present at the signing ceremony, which was also attended by three Arab members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
"All the Palestinian factions signed the document at a meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials," Bilal Qassem, politburo member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told AFP. He said all parties were given the opportunity to discuss the document and air any reservations. "We signed the deal despite several reservations. But we insisted on working for the higher national interest," said Walid al-Awad, a politburo member of the leftist Palestine People's Party. "We have discussed all the reservations. Everyone has agreed to take these points into consideration," he told Egyptian state television without elaborating.
The agreement was denounced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "a hard blow to peace process: ”How can we make peace with a government when half of it calls for the destruction of Israel and glorifies the murderous Osama bin Laden?" he asked. "Despite the fact that there are no guarantees to make this agreement successful there is a will and a way to agree," Abbas told an Egyptian newspaper. "It is not required of Hamas to recognize Israel. We will form a government of technocrats, and we will not ask Hamas to recognize Israel," he added.
The deal envisages the formation of an interim government that will pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections within a year. Among the first tasks to be tackled is the establishment of a security council tasked with examining ways to integrate Hamas and Fatah's rival security forces and create a "professional" security service.
Fatah and Hamas have been bitterly divided since June 2007 when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, routing Fatah loyalists in bloody confrontations that split the Palestinian territories in two.
According to the ‘Jerusalem Post’, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal (pictured on the left) said at the signing ceremony: "We are prepared to pay any price for reconciliation. The only campaign we have is against Israel. We want an independent, sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel does not respect us. Israel never stopped refusing our rights. Israel only grabs our land." He added: "We must open a new strategy. We do not want to declare war – we are only asserting our rights. We want to put pressure on Netanyahu so Israel recognizes our rights." In conclusion, Mashaal said: "Our common enemy is Israel. Israel must be fought through force and diplomacy."
Separately, the senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said that Palestine was "hallowed ground" and that his organization would never recognize Israel. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by many Western states, including the United States, Israel and the European Union member countries.
