GAZA CITY, 25 September 2006 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will meet this week in an effort to revive stalled talks on the creation of a national unity government that could end a devastating economic and political crisis.
Yesterday’s announcement on the meeting came only a day after Abbas said that dialogue between his moderate Fatah movement and Hamas had “returned to zero” following the Islamist movement’s refusal to recognize Israel.
“Abbas will travel to Gaza to meet Haniyeh tomorrow or after tomorrow to continue discussions on the national unity government,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said, adding that he will also hold talks with leaders of other factions.
Haniyeh confirmed the planned meeting, saying he remained hopeful that a national unity government would be formed.
“We will resume talks on the national unity government this week. I hope the talks will succeed and we will continue to make joint political efforts” with Fatah, he told reporters outside his office in the Gaza City.
The two leaders had agreed earlier this month to form a government together, raising speculation the movement may finally agree to Western demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel and abide by peace deals.
A Western freeze on aid to the Hamas-led government since it took office in March has caused a paralyzing crisis in the cash-strapped Palestinian territories, exacerbated by a massive Israeli offensive launched in Gaza in late June with the aim of recovering a soldier seized by fighters.
The United States is emphatic that the three conditions must be met before the blockade on funds to the Palestinian Authority is lifted.
“The only way forward is to have a Palestinian Authority government ... that adopts the conditions laid out by the Quartet (the European Union, Russia, United Nations and the United States) previously back in January,” US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Friday.
But on Friday, Hamas insisted a unity government would not recognize Israel and proposed a 10-year truce that was promptly rejected by the Jewish state, raising the ire of the beleaguered Palestinian president who criticized “retractions” by Hamas leaders.
“We had concluded an agreement for the formation of a government of national unity based on several points, among which in particular was to respect all of the agreements reached by the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and (to respect) the Arab peace initiative,” Abbas said Saturday.
“We unfortunately returned to zero and we will negotiate again,” he said following talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Haniyeh himself has said that the national reconciliation document, signed by most Palestinian factions in late June, was the basis of the new government’s platform.
Meanwhile, four minor Palestinian groups threatened yesterday to target any incoming Palestinian government which recognized Israel. Such a government would be “a legitimate target for us,” a spokesman for the four groups told a news conference in Gaza.
“If the government recognized Israel, we would see it as an extension of the Zionist project and we would deal with it as we deal with the Zionist occupation,” Abu Abeer, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees said.
— With input from agencies
