The two main Palestinian factions have signed a deal designed to end their decade-long rivalry and ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Under the agreement reached late on Thursday, Hamas would relinquish sole control of Gaza and sit in a unity government alongside the secular Fatah, based in the West Bank. Most Fatah leaders, including Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, have not set foot in Gaza since the militants launched a coup in 2007.
Leaders from Fatah and Hamas came to terms after two-day talks brokered by Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo. Standing within Egypt’s intelligence headquarters, Azzam Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation, and Salah Aruri, Hamas’s new deputy leader, warmly embraced. They then signed the agreement to applause.
Hamas agreed to hand over control of Gaza’s border crossings next month to security personnel from the Fatah-dominated PA. Hamas would then hand full Âadministrative power to the PA by December 1. After that, there will be elections for a unity government.
Read the full article by Bel Trew at The Australian.