Tag Archive for Hamas-Fatah Unity

| October 10, 2014
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New Political Con Satisfies US & EU but Gaza Facing ‘Donor Fatigue’

Unparallelled deceptions & corruption by Palestinians escapes US & EU leadership, but int’l aid conference has shown global community become a little wiser to Hamas’s numbers game.

By Tova Dvorin

 

A conference that aims to raise billions of dollars to “rebuild Gaza” after Hamas’s latest terror war on Israel faces “donor fatigue,” an insider told AFP on Friday.

The United Nations’ Palestinian Arab “refugee” agency, the UNRWA, has described the financial needs as “unprecedented” ahead of the Cairo meeting, which follows Hamas’s third war on Israeli civilians in six years.

But it is unclear how generous the world is willing to be given the intractability of the conflict and other priorities in the region, such as the fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| September 26, 2014
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Fatah returns to Gaza as Palestinian unity gov’t takes ‘immediate control’

Hamas & Fatah reach agreement settling recent disputes: Hamas gov’t employees in Gaza will again be paid, & the management of the border crossings will be handed over to Palestinian Authority.

By AFP, Reuters

 

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on Thursday by which the unity government run by President Mahmoud Abbas would take “immediate control” of the Gaza Strip, negotiators in Egypt-mediated reconciliation talks told reporters.

Negotiations in Cairo over implementation of unity government (Photo: EPA)

Negotiations in Cairo over implementation of unity government – Photo: EPA

“Fatah and Hamas have reached a comprehensive agreement for the return of the unity government to the Gaza Strip,” Jibril Rajoub, a member of the Fatah delegation in Cairo, told AFP. Continue Reading »

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| September 12, 2014
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Abbas withholding Hamas’ salaries puts Gaza peace at risk

 

Abbas withheld 40,000 Hamas employees paychecks saying : “If Hamas won’t accept a Palestinian state with one gov’t, one law & one gun, then there won’t be any partnership between us.”

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Tensions between Fatah and Hamas are close to breaking point over the payment of salaries to Gaza’s public sector workers, raising the risk of a return to conflict in the territory, officials say.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and then-Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani meet in Qatar in October 2012

Hamas, whose 40,000 employees have not been paid for months and have grown restive, has hoped the new truce would result in a mechanism that would allow the Palestinian Authority to pay their salaries.

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| June 23, 2014
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Abbas commits to disbanding unity gov’t after given proof of Hamas’ kidnapping teens

 

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki says, “If it turns out that Hamas is behind the kidnapping, there will be grave consequences including disbanding the unity gov’t & putting the reconciliation deal on hold.”

By Daniel Siryoti

 

The Palestinian Authority is waiting for the “smoking gun” that Hamas was behind the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens so that President Mahmoud Abbas could officially announce the reconciliation deal void and disband the government, a senior official in Abbas’ office told Israel Hayom.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: EPA

“In reality the reconciliation deal has not been implemented and the unity government does not function,” the official said.

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| June 18, 2014
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PA Official promises termination of unity-gov’t if Hamas guilty of kidnapping

 

As both factions skeptical of the other, PA considers seizure of Hamas assets.  A PA source leaked: “The more evidence is collected, the more it appears that Hamas betrayed the trust it was given & that the organization exploited the reconciliation agreement to throw sand in our eyes.”

By Daniel Siryoti & Shlomo Cesana

 

Tensions between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, following the abduction of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, have reached a critical lack of trust that threatens to dismantle the Palestinian unity government and delay the implementation of the sides’ reconciliation pact.

The new Palestinian unity government was sworn in two weeks ago – Photo: Reuters

The crisis, according to a senior source in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ bureau, began after Abbas ordered his security forces to increase cooperation with Israeli security forces to help locate the three missing teens.

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| June 11, 2014
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ex-Hamas official: Mahmoud Abbas lied to United States

 

A former Hamas spokesman says the PA president’s statements that the new unity gov’t recognizes Israel is deceitful and meant to mislead the U.S. & Israel.

Defence Minister Ya’alon: Present unity gov’t is Hamas’ attempt to take control over West Bank.

By Daniel Siryoti and Israel Hayom Staff

 

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas admitted to Hamas officials during closed-door meetings that he has been lying to the United States, Palestinian Media Watch has reported, quoting a former Hamas spokesman.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - Photo: Oren Nachshon

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Oren Nachshon

The PMW report said that former Hamas spokesman Ihab al-Rasin posted on his Facebook page that Abbas was lying when he told U.S.

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| June 8, 2014
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New Sisi gov’t prepared to reopen Egyptian border with Gaza under PLO supervision

Egyptian official reports new Sisi administration backs Fatah-Hamas unity gov’t, considering to reopen the Rafah crossing under PA control.

By Ari Yashar

 

A senior Egyptian official revealed Saturday that newly elected President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s administration strongly supports the new Hamas-Fatah unity government, and is considering giving it supervision of the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Sinai.

The official, who spoke to the Judea and Samaria-based Arab Ma’an News Agency on condition of anonymity, said Egypt is willing to open the crossing which has been closed for months.

The move is part of an Egyptian siege of the Hamas-enclave of Gaza, which has sealed off the illegal smuggling tunnels that are used to transport fuel and goods from Sinai, but also weapons and terrorists, and has consequently caused an economic collapse in Gaza. Continue Reading »

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| June 6, 2014
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‘Unity’ in Hevron as PA Arrests 100 Hamas Activists

Additional signs of ‘unity’ trepidation as PA security personnel arrest 100 Hamas members organizing the ‘Naksa Day’ event before a Fatah member was arrested in Gaza following a violent skirmish over money between the 2 factions.

By Ari Yashar

 

The tensions between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, despite the newly founded unity government on Monday, were displayed on Thursday as PA security services arrested Hamas members in Hevron located in Judea.

Members of the Gaza-based Hamas terror organization tried to organize a large event in Hevron for “Naksa Day,” the annual demonstrations against the 1967 Six Day War liberation of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights by Israel. Continue Reading »

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| June 5, 2014
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What ‘Unity’? Fistfights between Hamas & PA in Gaza

Following Hamas’ ‘thugs’ attacking Fatah members over salaries from new unity gov’t, the PA threatens ‘consequences’ after the closure of banks in Gaza.

By Ari Yashar

 

The unity government founded between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and terrorist group Hamas on Monday is hitting early snags, as brawls broke out in Gaza on Thursday over the payment of employees of the two groups, leading to the closure of banks.

Hamas violently took control of Gaza in 2007, and began cracking down on Fatah officials living in the territory. Since then the PA has continued paying roughly 70,000 employees in Gaza.

Thousands of Hamas employees, who have not been paid for the last several weeks, lined up at bank ATMs in Gaza on Thursday, hoping to now withdraw their back-logged salaries thanks to the unity government, reports Reuters. Continue Reading »

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| June 4, 2014
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Turkey, China & India endorse Palestinian gov’t with Hamas

All 3 countries call on int’l community to support Fatah-Hamas gov’t, breaking their ranks with Israel.

By

 

 

The new Palestinian unity government has received three welcome endorsements from major world powers India, China and Turkey, all within a day of Palestinian President Abbas swearing in a cabinet of 17 technocrats.

Indians in Bethlehem

Women from India in Manger Square, outside the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, May 25, 2014. – Photo: Reuters

All three called on the international community to throw its support behind and work with the new government, in contrast to the wishes of the Israeli government, which is seeking to punish the Palestinian Authority for forming a government with Hamas.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| June 3, 2014
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Obama’s Administration Promised PLO-Hamas Elections in Israel’s Capital

Jordanian newspaper reports the U.S. promised to convince Israel to allow unity government elections in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu ‘deeply troubled’ by the new White House policy.

By Dalit Halevy, Ari Yashar

 

According to new reports, the American administration has promised the new Fatah-Hamas unity government, which was sworn in this Monday, that it will convince Israel to allow that new government’s elections to be held in the eastern part of Jerusalem.

“A source that knows things,” apparently from within the Palestinian Authority (PA) or Hamas, was quoted in the Jordanian paper Al-Arab Al-Youm, reporting the American promise to work for parliamentary and presidential elections for the new unity government to be held in the Israeli capital. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 2, 2014
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US decides to fund Fatah-Hamas terrorists

 

State Department spokeswoman says “based on what we know” President Obama’s administration intended to continue working with the Fatah-Hamas unity gov’t.

By Yitzhak Benhorin

 

WASHINGTON – The US State Department announced Monday night that it planned to continue disbursing aid to Palestinians, after President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new unity government earlier in the day which incorporated Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.

US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that “based on what we know” President Barak Obama’s administration intended to continue working with the Fatah-Hamas unity government.

Psaki said that Abbas promised to commit to the terms of the Quartet, and that the US will “evaluate the composition and policies of the new government and calibrate our approach accordingly.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| June 2, 2014
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Bennett: Annexing ‘Area C’ is the only available option to Fatah-Hamas gov’t

 

The Bayit Yehudi chairman Bennett says the time has come to go on the offensive and insists that his “sovereignty program” is the best course of action & the “only available option” left to Israel.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
 

 

Israel should annex Area C of the West Bank in response to Monday’s swearing in ceremony of a unified Fatah-Hamas government made up of “terrorists in suits,” Economic Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett said.

The time has come to go on the offensive rather than act defensively and “to do what is good for Israel,” Bennett said.

The swearing in ceremony for the unity government in Ramallah occurred more than two decades after the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords and nine years after the 2005 Gaza withdrawal.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| June 2, 2014
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At Ramallah ceremony Palestinians swear in new government that includes Hamas

 

History at PLO HQ in Ramallah as Abbas’ new government now includes Fatah’s mortal opposition, Gaza’s Hamas.

By Elior Levy

 

The Palestinian unity government has been sworn in at the PLO headquarters in Ramallah, with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas present at the event.

Photo: Reuters

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas & Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah – Photo: Reuters

The brief ceremony at Abbas’ West Bank headquarters was preceded by last-minute haggling over the makeup of the 17-member Cabinet of technocrats, signaling the continued tensions between the long-time rivals.

Hamas’ threatened Monday to backtrack from its commitment to form a unity government with Abbas’ Fatah because of the latter’s move to dissolve the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoner Affairs. Continue Reading »

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| June 2, 2014
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Hamas Rejects Unity Gov’t Unless Last-Minute Demands Met

Hamas official informed Fatah it will refuse to join gov’t unless Ministry of Prisoners remains in zero-hour demand.

By Ari Yashar

 

Hamas informed Fatah on Monday that it would refuse to join the unity government being unveiled in Ramallah at 1 p.m. local time, unless its demands regarding the Ministry of Prisoners are met.

According to Hamas Spokesperson Sami Abu-Zuhri, Fatah had been given an official notice about the Hamas decision on Sunday to reject the swearing in of the new government if the Ministry of Prisoners is cancelled, reports Ma’an News Agency.

“(The) Hamas movement won’t agree to announce a unity government without a ministry and a minister of prisoners, and Fatah has already been notified of that irrevocable decision,” Abu-Zuhri declared Monday. Continue Reading »

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