Hamas, Fatah Agree on Unity Government
Arab News
November 6, 2006
A Palestinian minister said yesterday the ruling Hamas party had reached agreement with President Mahmoud Abbas’ moderate Fatah on a national unity government, but a spokesman for the group would only say “important progress” had been made.
“We’ve reached an agreement on everything — on the forming of the government, the name of the future prime minister, the criteria for appointing new ministers and the program,” Minister for Prisoner Affairs Wasfi Kabha told AFP, without elaborating.
“President Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya should hold a meeting today or tomorrow in which Abbas would announce the name of the prime minister who will form the government,” he added. Abbas’ office refused to comment.
Palestinian lawmaker Mustapha Barghouti, who has been mediating between Abbas and Haniya in recent days, also said that both sides have agreed “to form a national unity government with independent and capable members.”
But Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum denied agreement had been reached, saying only that “important progress” has been made in negotiations. “Fatah and Hamas agreed to put in place this government. Mustapha Barghouti has prepared the ground for a meeting between Abbas and Haniya, but until now there is no final agreement,” he said.
Previous discussions between Hamas and Fatah on forming a government of national unity ended in deadlock over the movement’s refusal to adopt a platform which recognizes Israel’s right to exist and which honors agreements signed with the Jewish state.
The political impasse has led to violent clashes between armed factions loyal to the two parties — fighting which has claimed the lives of some 30 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians including a policeman and kept up missile strikes on the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, residents and medical officials said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel’s assault on “rocket-launching squads and gunmen” would not be open-ended but declined to say when it would finish. He appeared to acknowledge the rocket threat could not be wiped out by the operation.
At least one homemade missile hit the Israeli border town of Sderot, the Zaka rescue service said. No one was hurt.
Israeli forces have killed 47 people in the five-day operation, one of the biggest since the army and Jewish settlers pulled out of Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation.
“We have no intention of conquering Gaza,” Olmert said at the start of a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
“We have declared that we will never accept the ongoing (rocket) fire and that we would take any steps needed to considerably reduce the fire and prevent terror activity.”
Medical officials and police said Israeli troops shot dead the policeman near his post in northern Gaza. Israeli Army said it was checking the report. A member of the Hamas armed wing was shot in a clash with soldiers in Beit Hanoun. Israeli analysts expect Olmert will end the operation before he heads to Washington for talks with President George W. Bush, scheduled for Nov. 13.
The United States has said Israel has the right to defend itself against rocket attacks.
But it has also pressed Israel to relax its curbs on Gaza’s crossings to ease a humanitarian crisis in the strip, already suffering under a Western aid embargo imposed when Hamas refused to recognize Israel after taking office in March.
November 6, 2006
A Palestinian minister said yesterday the ruling Hamas party had reached agreement with President Mahmoud Abbas’ moderate Fatah on a national unity government, but a spokesman for the group would only say “important progress” had been made.“We’ve reached an agreement on everything — on the forming of the government, the name of the future prime minister, the criteria for appointing new ministers and the program,” Minister for Prisoner Affairs Wasfi Kabha told AFP, without elaborating.
“President Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya should hold a meeting today or tomorrow in which Abbas would announce the name of the prime minister who will form the government,” he added. Abbas’ office refused to comment.
Palestinian lawmaker Mustapha Barghouti, who has been mediating between Abbas and Haniya in recent days, also said that both sides have agreed “to form a national unity government with independent and capable members.”
But Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum denied agreement had been reached, saying only that “important progress” has been made in negotiations. “Fatah and Hamas agreed to put in place this government. Mustapha Barghouti has prepared the ground for a meeting between Abbas and Haniya, but until now there is no final agreement,” he said.
Previous discussions between Hamas and Fatah on forming a government of national unity ended in deadlock over the movement’s refusal to adopt a platform which recognizes Israel’s right to exist and which honors agreements signed with the Jewish state.
The political impasse has led to violent clashes between armed factions loyal to the two parties — fighting which has claimed the lives of some 30 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians including a policeman and kept up missile strikes on the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, residents and medical officials said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel’s assault on “rocket-launching squads and gunmen” would not be open-ended but declined to say when it would finish. He appeared to acknowledge the rocket threat could not be wiped out by the operation.
At least one homemade missile hit the Israeli border town of Sderot, the Zaka rescue service said. No one was hurt.
Israeli forces have killed 47 people in the five-day operation, one of the biggest since the army and Jewish settlers pulled out of Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation.
“We have no intention of conquering Gaza,” Olmert said at the start of a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
“We have declared that we will never accept the ongoing (rocket) fire and that we would take any steps needed to considerably reduce the fire and prevent terror activity.”
Medical officials and police said Israeli troops shot dead the policeman near his post in northern Gaza. Israeli Army said it was checking the report. A member of the Hamas armed wing was shot in a clash with soldiers in Beit Hanoun. Israeli analysts expect Olmert will end the operation before he heads to Washington for talks with President George W. Bush, scheduled for Nov. 13.
The United States has said Israel has the right to defend itself against rocket attacks.
But it has also pressed Israel to relax its curbs on Gaza’s crossings to ease a humanitarian crisis in the strip, already suffering under a Western aid embargo imposed when Hamas refused to recognize Israel after taking office in March.
posted by Jon at Monday, November 06, 2006
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