Despite optimism expressed by Fatah and Hamas factions following their agreement to form a Palestinian unity government, rivalries continue with each side claiming success in dragging the other to its camp.
Fatah and Hamas officials said the agreement on political partnership aimed primarily at ending the unprecedented factional fighting that has engulfed the Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of at least 90 people.
Both factions have come under domestic and international pressure to curb the violence. Polls show most Palestinians have lost faith in them because of the fighting and the economic hardships they endured under a Hamas government.
“The Mecca deal is basically a truce between Fatah and Hamas. It could last one year, two years or less,” a senior Fatah official said.
Western nations imposed sanctions on the Hamas government last year because it refused to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and accept past Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.
Unresolved issues
Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, paralyzed by a militant government that challenged his policy since taking office last March, set out to Mecca aiming to form a unity government that would recognize Israel and past interim peace deals in order to end the sanctions.
But the agreement made no explicit commitment to recognize Israel and did not appear to meet the conditions set out by the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers -- the United States, Russia, European Union and United Nations -- for lifting the embargo.
The European Union said it would study the new government in “a positive but cautious manner.” The United States said it was too early to judge the deal but Israeli officials said it did not meet the Quartet’s requirements.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a non-committal response on Sunday to the unity government deal, saying Israel was examining details of the accord.
“The first step is to end the fighting,” a senior Fatah official who took part in the Mecca talks told Reuters.
U.S.-based political analyst Mohammad Musleh agreed, saying the significance of the agreement was that “it prevented falling into a full-fledged civil war.”
“The internal hostilities will be reduced, but will not end,” he added.
'Hamas has changed'
Some Fatah officials have privately expressed disappointment that the agreement may not meet international requirements to lift the sanctions, but believe that Fatah has dragged the militant Hamas towards its moderate position.
“Since winning the elections last year Hamas has changed politically. This is a first step,” one official said.
“Despite its inflammatory public statements, on the ground Hamas no longer carries out attacks against Israel. It now seeks a state on only 22 percent of historical Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza) even though it says it doesn’t recognize Israel,” the senior official said.
The new government will be headed by Hamas but will include ministers from other factions, ending Hamas’ monopoly of power. Fatah believes that with secular partners in power, Hamas will find it harder to impose its conservative Islamist agenda.
But Hamas argues it has not lost ground.
“We still head the government, we haven’t lost power, we haven’t changed our policies,” one Hamas official told Reuters.
Hamas believes the Mecca deal could bring about the crumbling of the sanctions that have paralyzed its government. “We have not changed our strategy. The world has now changed the way they deal with Hamas,” Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said.
Senior Fatah official Mohammad Dahlan said if the world wanted to empower Abbas and Fatah it must revive a meaningful peace process that would give Palestinians hope for a better future. In the absence of a peace process, stopping the internal bloodshed was the priority.
“At some point in time, when there was a meaningful peace process, our priorities were to pay more attention to our relations with the international community,” he told Reuters.
“Today we have one eye on relations with the world and the other eye on domestic matters, but our priority today lies in reorganizing our internal house and ending bloodshed,” he said.
Political analyst Ali Jarbawi said the success of the unity government hinged on how much financial aid it would get from the Arab and international community to enable it to survive, and whether there will be progress in the peace process.
“Abbas needs empowerment through advancing the peace process. Without this, his position is weak,” Jarbawi said.
