Palestinians in Gaza were cautiously hopeful that a new power-sharing deal would end months of deadly factional violence, but a Hamas leader's defiant vow to push on with the militant group's war against Israel was a stark reminder of how difficult it will be to make the accord stick.
Not only was there concern whether both sides would hold their fire, but the muted international response on Friday left many wondering whether the agreement between Hamas and the Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas would be enough to end crippling sanctions on the Palestinian government.
"Our situation has become really difficult. ... We need this agreement," said Mohammed Abdel Aziz, a 55-year-old restaurant owner in Gaza.
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas soared after Hamas won parliamentary elections last year. The elections divided the government and sparked street battles in Gaza that have killed more than 130 people.
Negotiations for a unity government repeatedly broke down in disagreements over powerful ministries and how far the government would go toward recognizing Israel, one of three Western conditions for lifting the sanctions imposed after the elections.
The West also demanded that Hamas accept past peace agreements with Israel and renounce violence.
Late on Thursday, the two sides finally reached agreement during talks in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
"We have left behind all those black days forever and started a new page on a new government and a new way in Palestine," Abbas said.
The platform agreed to on Thursday says the new government pledges to "|respect" previous deals, instead of "abide by" them, as Abbas initially demanded. It made no reference to recognizing Israel or renouncing violence.
Gazans welcomed the deal with euphoria and celebratory gunfire, hoping it will end the internal feuding that has kept them huddled in their homes in fear.
However, it quickly grew clear that Hamas might have trouble selling the accord -- with its vague, implicit recognition of Israel -- to its supporters, who have long called for the Jewish state's destruction.
"Our battle with the Israeli enemy is still on," Fathi Hamad, a Hamas leader in Gaza's Jebaliya refugee camp, told a few thousand supporters.
He urged militant groups to resume attacks against Israel and denied that Hamas would respect past peace deals.
"We will be the spearhead of jihad ... to defend Palestine and Arab and Muslim nations," he said.
If the US and Israel are not convinced Hamas has sufficiently moderated, the West is unlikely to lift the sanctions.
The US said on Friday it was too soon to tell whether the agreement satisfied its conditions for resuming aid.
"We still haven't seen enough of the details on this to give you an answer," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.
Steven Cook, a Middle East specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the US would likely follow Israel's lead.
"If it satisfies the Israelis, it's likely to satisfy us. But until that point, it's likely to be something that the United States looks at cautiously," he said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the