Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 12-10-2017
Hamas and Fatah have signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo, ending a decade-long rift between the two Palestinian factions with provisions to cover security, administrative and border crossing arrangements in the Gaza Strip
Al Jazeera reports the announcement on Thursday comes after representatives from Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) convened in Cairo to implement a unity agreement that was signed in 2011 but not put into action.
While the full details of the agreement have yet to be announced, negotiators from both groups say that the security changes include the handing over of control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to a unity government.
At a press conference, head of the PA delegation Azzam al-Ahmad said that under the instructions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the two groups would not return to the occupied Palestinian territories unless they had a “final agreement that would put aside the rift forever.
“To achieve the Palestinian dream, put an end to occupation, and to have a Palestinian, independent, sovereign state with East Jerusalem as the capital”.
Deputy head of the Hamas political office Saleh al-Arouri thanked Egypt that had Egypt has been brokering the reconciliation talks in Cairo for its “stable role”.
“The Palestinian issue is the Egyptian issue.”
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have been ruled separately since deadly clashes between the two groups broke out in 2007.
Hamas won parliamentary elections in the occupied territories the previous year, and reinforced its power in Gaza after ousting Fatah from the enclave.
– Al Jazeera
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