Hamas and Fatah agree to form unity government

Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have agreed to form an interim unity government and hold general elections in eight months’ time.

Officials said the deal was brokered by Egypt following secret negotiations between the two sides.

A senior Hamas leader who took part in the talks told Al Jazeera television that the agreement covered five areas, including forming a government made up of “nationalist” figures, combining security forces, and releasing prisoners held by each side.

An official signing ceremony is expected to be held in Cairo in early May.

While relations between Fatah and Hamas have been tense since Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, both groups recognize that together they can achieve more in pursuing their common goals. As Hamas’s political chief, Khaled Meshaal, said back in September 2009, spelling out Hamas’s motive for Palestinian reconciliation, “We extend our hands to our brothers in Fatah movement and the rest of Palestinian factions to counter the Israeli enemy.”

While the accord is yet to be implemented, this new unity between Hamas and Fatah will undoubtedly give further impetus to the Palestinians’ push for a state, and compound the threat to Israel.

On Feb. 13, 2009, columnist Stephen Flurry wrote about how developments were building toward just such an outcome:

Three years ago, on the Key of David television program, Gerald Flurry said it appeared Hamas was “about to get control of the Palestinians.” Three weeks after that program aired, Palestinians elected a Hamas majority into their legislative council. Today, Hamas is in the final stages of its takeover.At the outset of the recent Gaza war, even as Hamas was getting pounded, we said that if Hamas survived, it would win. And a win, we wrote, would mean Hamastan would “remain at the front line of the Palestinian struggle against Israel, garner more popular support throughout the Arab world, receive international legitimacy and enjoy the rapid advancement of its power and influence, both politically and militarily.”That has happened. As Time wrote yesterday, the Gaza war “cemented the stature of Hamas as the dominant political force among Palestinians.” It is now flexing its newfound strength in order to pull the Fatah-led faction back into the Palestinian fold. …Momentum is building for a Hamas-led Palestinian unity government. Watch for it.

It seems that a Hamas-led Palestinian unity government is on the verge of becoming reality. This does not bode well for Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to reports of the deal by calling on Abbas to “choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas.”

Watch Israel. Events are building toward a clash between Palestinians and Jews.