The political leader of the Islamist Hamas organization, which controls the Gaza Strip, declared on Saturday evening that attempts to forge a reconciliation agreement between his faction and that of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ – the Fatah organization that controls the West Bank – comes as a reaction to what Ismail Haniyeh termed “Israel’s unfavorable actions in the region.” The Hamas leader stressed that “reconciliation is an aspiration and a decision to prevent Israel from swallowing up the West Bank and continuing its siege of the Gaza Strip,” while stressing that Hamas’s decision to end the long and bitter conflict with Fatah was a “strategic move,” while acknowledging that setbacks are to be expected along the way.
The Palestinian reconciliation agreement, which is currently being brokered by Cairo, comes at a time in which Hamas finds itself increasingly isolated, with its key-backer Qatar under a blockade of its own, due to Doha’s involvement in supporting terror organizations, among other allegations. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Fatah, took advantage of Hamas’ growing challenges, applying economic pressure of its own, which effectively forced the Islamist group to seek a reconciliation deal with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
As part of the agreement, Hamas vowed to transfer its administrative powers to the Western-backed government of the Palestinian-Authority, yet made clear that it has no intention of giving up its security responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that Hamas’s military branches and weapons-arsenal are not up for discussion.
Members of the Palestinian Authority’s government arrived in the Gaza Strip this morning, accompanied by dozens of officials and leaders of the Palestinian security organizations in order assert their control over the civil administration of the Palestinian enclave. The delegation is led by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah who, as part of this historic visit, met with Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar. As part of efforts to assure the safety of the Palestinian Authority’s delegation in Gaza, Hamas announced that it had deployed many of its security forces to ensure the delegates are protected. In addition, a security delegation with two senior Egyptian intelligence officials are currently in Gaza to oversee the process in which Hamas will transfer its administrative powers to the Western-backed government of President Mahmoud Abbas.