Negotiations between Fatah and Hamas to create a unified Palestinian Authority were floundering Monday after Fatah head and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) the only legitimate group representing PA Arabs. There will be no dialogue with “those who reject” the PLO, Abbas said.
Hamas spokesmen lashed out at Abbas, accused him of attempting to delegitimize Hamas in the wake of worldwide sympathy for the group following the latest Israeli counter-terror operation in Gaza. Abbas is attempting to sabotage “fruitful Palestinian dialogue,” they suggested.
Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Hamas had never questioned the legitimacy of the PLO. When Hamas suggested “a new representation,” it was not a bid to replace the PLO, he said, but rather to add new factions to the PLO, including those that oppose Abbas's Fatah.
Senior officials in Abbas's Fatah-led PA based in Judea and Samaria rejected charges that Abbas was trying to avoid dialogue. Abbas is eager to reunite with Hamas and has been attempting to rally international support for a unified Hamas-Fatah PA, they said.
Ceasefire Talks in Trouble?
A Hamas delegation met with senior Egyptian officials in Cairo on Monday to discuss the possibility of a year-long ceasefire in Gaza. Leaked reports from anonymous officials suggested that talks were not going well.
Prior to the meeting, Hamas leader Ali Barakei told Al-Jazeera that Israel's conditions for a ceasefire were unreasonable. Israel has requested a buffer zone within Gaza to distance terrorists from Israeli towns and a complete end to weapons smuggling.
Hamas demands that Israel open Gaza crossings and end all counter-terror operations. So far the group has rejected Israel's terms.
While Hamas leaders in Gaza weighed a ceasefire, exiled Hamas head Khaled Mashaal told students in Teheran that Hamas would continue fighting until it conquered all of Israel. “We will continue until we free all of Palestine,” he said, “we will free Jerusalem and pray there together.”
Gaza terrorists fired a rocket in the direction of Sderot on Monday evening. The rocket hit a security barrier, causing no injuries.