Fatah and Hamas Announce Deal -Isabel Kershner
The two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, announced that they were putting aside years of bitter rivalry to create an interim unity government and hold elections within a year, a surprise move that promised to reshape the diplomatic landscape of the Middle East.
Taher Al-Nounou, a spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, said the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement to form a transitional unity government for the Palestinian territories to be followed by new elections after a year.
Israel warned that a formal agreement would spell the end of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The agreement appeared to catch the Obama administration, like many others, by surprise. In a sharply worded statement, Tommy Vietor, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said that the administration considered Hamas a terrorist organization that would not be a reliable partner in peace talks with Israel.
[New York Times]
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The Wrath of Abbas -Dan Ephron
"It was Obama who suggested a full settlement freeze," Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told me. "I said OK, I accept. We both went up the tree. After that, he came down with a ladder and he removed the ladder and said to me, jump. Three times he did it."
(Newsweek)
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Palestinian Security Forces Fire near Israeli Patrol
Palestinian security forces fired toward Israeli military vehicles in the West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian security sources said.
There were no reports of injury in the incident, which came as military jeeps pulled up near the Palestinian security building at the northern entrance of Tulkarem.
On Sunday, an Israeli was shot dead and four others were injured by Palestinian security forces.
(Maan News-PA)
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UPDATES:
Hamas Has Taken Over the Palestinian Movement -Aluf Benn
The Palestinian reconciliation deal, if realized, heralds the takeover of the Palestinian national movement by Hamas. A "unity government" is a nice but empty headline. In real life, there are no egalitarian governments. There is always a ruling side with partners being dragged behind it. The stronger, more organized, better armed side, i.e., Hamas, will rule the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian reconciliation deal justifies Netanyahu's warnings that any territory vacated by Israel will fall into Hamas hands and become an Iranian terror base. It strikes any proposals for interim agreements and unilateral withdrawals, intended to appease the world, off the agenda.
(Ha'aretz)
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Palestinians Launch Their Revolution -Jackson Diehl
It's not yet certain that a political deal announced by the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas factions will stick - similar pacts have been proclaimed and then discarded several times in the last four years.
But one thing is sure: If Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas moves forward with the reconciliation with the Hamas movement, it will mean he has written off the Obama administration once and for all.
The reconciliation could [also] mean the end of the West Bank administration headed by Salam Fayyad, a technocrat highly respected by both Americans and Israelis. If so, Congress will almost certainly suspend $400 million in annual U.S. aid.
It could also mean the reorganization of Fatah's U.S.-trained security forces and their eventual integration with the cadres of the Iranian-backed Hamas.
(Washington Post)
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MORE UPDATES:
Why Palestinian Unity Won't Lead to Peace -Dore Gold
Israel is concerned that, in the aftermath of their new agreement, Hamas will try to exploit Abbas' weakness and take over the West Bank as well.
If, under the agreement, the Palestinian Authority releases Hamas operatives from its prisons in the West Bank and at the same time calls off security sweeps against Hamas, the terrorist group's power in the field will undoubtedly rise.
And what will happen to the Palestinian security forces that were trained by the United States and Jordan and have been acclaimed in the West in recent years?
(Foreign Policy)
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