In the wake of intensifying violence between armed Hamas and Fatah factions in the Palestinian Authority, including 10-12 deaths and threats by Fatah gunmen to assassinate Hamas government leaders, the Arab nationalist Balad party released a statement Tuesday calling for unity among "all the brothers" in the PA.
The Balad statement, issued "in the name of the nationalist forces and members of the nationalist movement inside the Green Line," calls for the armed PA factions to unify behind "the common interest, the common problems and the common goals... to establish a national unity government." Balad admonishes the PA "brothers... that under occupation, a Palestinian will not raise a hand against another Palestinian. There is no place for civil war under conditions of occupation and siege."
The siege can be broken, the Balad statement suggested, by means of the proposed national unity government, including Hamas and Fatah representation.
However, the current violence is the fault of Israel, Balad declared: "The fully responsible party for the current situation is the ongoing occupation, the siege imposed on the Palestinian government that was democratically chosen."
The Balad parliamentary faction is headed by MK Azmi Bishara, who is being investigated for a solidarity trip to Syria that he made recently with several other Israeli-Arab MKs and public figures.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, meanwhile, also promoted unity among PA factions, even as he implied that internal PA violence was an American plot.
"It seems that Ms. [US Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice is using the old rule of 'divide and conquer,'" Haniyeh said on Tuesday. He also called on other Arab nations "not to collaborate with American plans to divide the region."
The Persian Gulf state of Qatar has stepped in to attempt to resolve the crisis in the PA with a proposal for a unified interim coalition government. Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani presented the proposal, which also stipulates PA fulfillment of demands made by the Quartet of nations that formulated the Road Map for Peace document.
Among the Quartet demands are the PA's formal acknowledgement of Israel's right to exist, a renunciation of violence, the disarming of non-governmental militias, and the upholding of agreements signed by the previous PA government. In addition, the Qatari proposal includes terms for the release of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Shalit was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists during a raid on an Israeli army outpost near the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza on June 25.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly accepted the proposal. PA sources quoted by the Haaretz newspaper said Damascus-based Hamas terror chief Khaled Meshaal has agreed in principle to the terms, but Hamas sources in Gaza denied it, saying that Hamas will "never agree to recognize Israel."
The Balad statement, issued "in the name of the nationalist forces and members of the nationalist movement inside the Green Line," calls for the armed PA factions to unify behind "the common interest, the common problems and the common goals... to establish a national unity government." Balad admonishes the PA "brothers... that under occupation, a Palestinian will not raise a hand against another Palestinian. There is no place for civil war under conditions of occupation and siege."
The siege can be broken, the Balad statement suggested, by means of the proposed national unity government, including Hamas and Fatah representation.
However, the current violence is the fault of Israel, Balad declared: "The fully responsible party for the current situation is the ongoing occupation, the siege imposed on the Palestinian government that was democratically chosen."
The Balad parliamentary faction is headed by MK Azmi Bishara, who is being investigated for a solidarity trip to Syria that he made recently with several other Israeli-Arab MKs and public figures.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, meanwhile, also promoted unity among PA factions, even as he implied that internal PA violence was an American plot.
"It seems that Ms. [US Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice is using the old rule of 'divide and conquer,'" Haniyeh said on Tuesday. He also called on other Arab nations "not to collaborate with American plans to divide the region."
The Persian Gulf state of Qatar has stepped in to attempt to resolve the crisis in the PA with a proposal for a unified interim coalition government. Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani presented the proposal, which also stipulates PA fulfillment of demands made by the Quartet of nations that formulated the Road Map for Peace document.
Among the Quartet demands are the PA's formal acknowledgement of Israel's right to exist, a renunciation of violence, the disarming of non-governmental militias, and the upholding of agreements signed by the previous PA government. In addition, the Qatari proposal includes terms for the release of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Shalit was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists during a raid on an Israeli army outpost near the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza on June 25.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly accepted the proposal. PA sources quoted by the Haaretz newspaper said Damascus-based Hamas terror chief Khaled Meshaal has agreed in principle to the terms, but Hamas sources in Gaza denied it, saying that Hamas will "never agree to recognize Israel."