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Yemen brokers Fatah, Hamas reconciliation deal

By IINA

Sana’a : Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a Yemeni-brokered reconciliation deal yesterday, promising to renew discussions after months of hostilities. The two factions reconvened in Sana’a earlier in the day in a last ditch effort to hammer out a compromise over the future of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The Sana’a Declaration read: “We, the representatives of Fatah and Hamas, agree to the Yemeni initiative as a framework to resume dialogue between the two movements to return the Palestinian situation to what it was before the Gaza incidents”.

Top Hamas negotiator Moussa Abu Marzouk and senior Fatah official Azzam Al Ahmed signed the deal, which also affirmed the “unity of the Palestinian people, territory and authority”.

According to the deal, the condition in the region must return to the way it was before Hamas took over in June. Ahmed told reporters he was looking forward towards implementing the agreement and establishing a date to continue further talks, despite differences on the main condition of the initiative.

The talks, launched last week by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have neared collapse several times. Saleh urged both sides to agree to hold direct talks in early April, with the plan that pushes for Gaza Strip’s return to the way it was. Gaza’s future has been a main point of contention, with Fatah demanding that Hamas Islamists revoke their control of the territory.

Hamas said on Saturday the group asked that the same should be applicable in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has dismissed a Hamas-led government and arrested some Hamas supporters.

Fatah had said it would agree to reconciliation talks with Hamas on condition that the Islamist group relinquish its hold on Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. Previous reconciliation efforts, including a 2007 Saudi-sponsored deal reached in Makkah, have not succeeded. This new plan, which calls for a return to the framework agreement laid in Makkah, also proposes new Palestinian elections, the establishment of another unity government and the reform of Palestinian security forces as a national rather than factional effort.