Abbas: Unity gov’t will honor all agreements with Israel; Hamas says it will have nothing to do with PA president’s program
A dispute has erupted between Hamas and Fatah over the political platform of a Palestinian unity government, Palestinian sources reported Sunday.
The dispute came as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal made preparations to hold another meeting in Cairo later this week to discuss the formation of a unity government and the implementation of the recent Qatari-brokered reconciliation agreement between the two sides.
On Saturday, Abbas told the Italian consul-general in Jerusalem during a meeting in Ramallah that a Palestinian unity government, which would be established under the terms of the Qatari-brokered deal, would abide by the PLO’s political program.
Abbas said that the unity government would also honor all agreements that were signed between the PLO and Israel, including the Oslo Accords.
Under the terms of the reconciliation deal, the unity government would be headed by Abbas and its main mission would be to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections and rebuild the Gaza Strip.
Abbas’s statements about the political agenda of the unity government drew sharp criticism from Hamas, whose leaders rushed Sunday to deny the PA president’s remarks.
Hamas does not want to be seen as having recognized the Oslo Accords or Israel’s right to exist by agreeing to the formation of a unity government with Abbas’s Fatah faction.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri emphasized that the proposed unity government “would have nothing to with Abbas’s political program, which we categorically reject,” Abu Zuhri said.