–
–
The government of the Palestinian Authority is set to resign within the next 24 hours. This will bring to an end a coalition between the ruling Fatah faction and the Hamas after only one year.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah are set to meet early today, Wednesday.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
The so called unity government seemed to have existed on paper only. The PA’s authority was not restored in Gaza.
The Israeli government was never happy about the PA unity deal with Hamas. The Hamas terrorist organization has controlled Gaza since 2006, when it ousted the PA from control there. Since then, the Palestinian areas have been effectively divided in two.
Hamas has not allowed PA officials to function there, has arrested Fatah people, clamped down on any political dissent and worked to establish a theocratic dictatorship in Gaza.
The news comes amidst reports that senior Hamas officials have traveled to Qatar to discuss a proposed 5 year ceasefire with Israel. There are even reports now that Israeli officials are in indirect talks with Hamas about the ceasefire.
With Hamas out of the picture, it might be easier for Israel to do business with the PA. But the question remains: How will Israel be able to loosen its blockade of Gaza as long as the PA government has no control there?
“There is no real reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, ” Diana Buttu, a lawyer who once worked for Mr. Abbas, told the New York Times. “The West Bank hasn’t really been pushing for the reconstruction of Gaza, and so as a result, it was inevitable that this government was going to fall apart.”
“To me, this is the ultimate sign of weakness, ” she said. “The biggest failure of the legacy of his 10 years is that this split has been allowed to fester for such a long, long, long period of time.”
Prime Minister Hamdallah is expected to remain in office after a cabinet reshuffle.
