GAZA CITY, 23 January 2007 — After the inconclusive talks in Damascus between President Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshaal, leader of the ruling Hamas movement, Palestinians were preparing yesterday to press on with efforts to form a national unity government.
A statement from the umbrella group of Palestinian factions said a meeting would take place in Gaza City today between representatives of Fatah and Hamas, but gave no further details.
“We hope to achieve an inter-Palestinian understanding through this dialogue, because the Palestinian people and the factions have no alternative,” Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said.
Speaking for Fatah, Tawfiq Abu Khusa said, “We need a government capable of lifting the blockade, reducing the suffering of our people and getting the Palestinian cause back on the international agenda.” Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, speaking from Damascus, echoed Abu Khusa, while stressing that the new government’s political program would have to be “acceptable to the Palestinians, the Arabs and the international community.”
Abbas and Meshaal said after meeting in Damascus on Sunday that their respective factions were committed to further dialogue “within two weeks” to try to resolve remaining differences.
The talks had been touted as key to resolving the long-running feud between Fatah and Hamas, where intermittent violence that boiled over in December left more than 60 people dead. Fatah and Hamas have tried for months to agree on a unity government in the hope of ending a boycott and aid freeze by the United States and the European Union that crippled the already staggering Palestinian economy.
Washington and the EU consider Hamas to be a terrorist group and suspended direct financial aid to the Palestinians after it took power in March because the Islamists refuse to renounce violence or recognize Israel’s right to exist.
“We reiterate that dialogue is the only way to resolve our political differences,” Meshaal said at a joint press conference, adding that it was wrong to speak of a “power struggle” within the Palestinian Authority.
“There are still points of divergence but the dialogue will continue in Gaza...or outside to arrive at the formation of a government of national unity,” he said.
A joint statement issued after the meeting stressed that discussions had “made progress.” Both sides condemned the spilling of Palestinian blood and agreed to avoid provocation.
Last month’s clashes erupted after Abbas said he would call for early elections as a way of resolving the standoff with Hamas, which vehemently rejected the move as an attempted coup and warned it could set off a civil war.
Meanwhile, Jordan yesterday voiced hope that the Damascus meeting would lead to reconciliation between Palestinian factions.
“The king and the government always underscore their support for any efforts aimed at bolstering Palestinian national reconciliation,” government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh told a weekly news conference in Amman.
