Gazans danced in the streets, honked car horns and set off fireworks to celebrate a power-sharing deal between Hamas and Fatah they hope will avert civil war.
The joy came in stark contrast to the gloom that had descended on the impoverished coastal strip during months of deadly infighting between the political rivals.
In a show of unity, some drivers flew both green Hamas flags and yellow Fatah banners from their cars.
PHOTO: EPA
"People are in disbelief," Maysra Balawi, 24, said late on Thursday as he tried to steer his car through jammed streets. "Today is a feast. It is the first happy protest I have seen in Gaza."
Young men danced to the beat of drums, carrying each other on their shoulders. Celebratory gunfire could be heard in several parts of Gaza City and fireworks lit up the sky.
A coalition agreement between the Islamic militant Hamas and the Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas was signed late on Thursday in the holy Muslim city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Under the deal, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas will remain prime minister. In all, Hamas will get nine portfolios, compared to six for Fatah. Nine other Cabinet posts will go to independents and smaller factions.
The Saudi-brokered deal caps months of on-again, off-again coalition talks, interspersed with fighting. The key disputes had been control over three ministries -- foreign affairs, finance and interior -- as well as the language in the new government's program addressing previous peace agreements with Israel.
In the end, the new coalition pledges to "respect" such deals, instead of "committing to" them, as Abbas initially demanded, and it remains unclear whether the US and Israel will be ready to deal with it. The international community has said any Palestinian government must recognize Israel explicitly.
In a first Israeli response, government spokeswoman Miri Eisin reiterated the international community's conditions, but did not make clear whether the Mecca deal would satisfy Israel.
In Thursday's ceremony, the names of the new Cabinet ministers were not announced. Haniyeh, formally designated as the head of the new coalition, must fill the posts in the coming five weeks.
Two of the three key portfolios were already assigned informally in previous rounds of talks.
Salam Fayyad, who served as finance minister in Fatah-run governments, is expected to return to that post.
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