The Hamas-led Palestinian government is looking for help from its main rival, Fatah, in the face of a financial crisis, international isolation and internal unrest, calling for a "national unity" coalition as a way out of the crisis.
Hamas renewed its appeal on Sunday, but there was no sign that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, thrown out in January elections after four decades in control of Palestinian politics, would accept.
Fatah officials even failed to show up for a meeting of factions called by Hamas on Sunday.
"We affirmed that the issue of forming a national unity government is under consideration," Ghazi Hamad, the government spokesperson told reporters. "The door is open to Fatah."
Fatah, however, has already rejected joining a unity government and is enjoying the difficulties Hamas faces in running the government while trying to avoid compromising its hardline positions.
The situation has become critical. Sanctions by Israel and the West have dried up the Palestinian treasury, and salaries for 140,000 public sector workers are more than two weeks overdue, triggering demonstrations.
Bitterness has heightened in recent days since Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas accused Abbas of trying to undermine the new government.
Abbas aides called Haniyeh's comments unacceptable.
Meanwhile Iran has offered to donate more than US$50 million to the Palestinian Authority to help it with its budget crisis. It is the first solid promise of financial aid for the new Hamas government.
Russia has also offered to provide aid, although it has not stipulated what it is offering and how it will be paid.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that he was honored to help the Palestinian nation and called on other Muslim nations to follow suit.
Iran's donation, announced after an anti-Zionism conference in Tehran, is less than half of the US$132 million the Palestinian Authority requires to pay its workers for a month.
The US, EU and Canada withdrew their donations because Hamas refused to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Israel also did not transfer US$55 million it owes the Palestinian Authority in customs duties.
Iran's offer of help does not mean the crisis is over. Tehran has to transfer the money to the Palestinian Authority, which has had trouble getting banking facilities since Hamas took over.
Also the Palestinian Authority needs US$55 million every month, and by the end of this month it will have another wage bill.
A unity coalition would be designed to put differences aside and give legitimacy to the Hamas-led government as a way of persuading the West to resume vital foreign aid. But many in Fatah are hoping Hamas will fail and be forced to call new elections.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
China has approved the creation of a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, the government said yesterday, as Beijing moves to reinforce its territorial claims in the contested region. A notice posted online by the Chinese State Council said that details about the area and size of the project would be released separately by the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration. “The building of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island,” the notice said. Scarborough
RSS