A surprise deal to end decades of rivalry between Fatah and Hamas was yesterday welcomed by the Palestinian leadership, but denounced by Israel as crossing “a red line.”
The agreement, announced in Cairo on Wednesday, saw the secular Fatah party that dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, and Gaza’s Islamist rulers, Hamas, agree to work together to form a transitional government ahead of elections, which will take place within a year.
Wednesday’s deal, which came after 18 months of fruitless talks, drew praise from Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who expressed the hope it would be “an essential and important step to proceed to the immediate establishment of national unity.”
It was also hailed by Iran, which said it would “speed up developments in the Palestinian arena and the gaining of great victories” against Israel.
However, it received the opposite reaction in Israel, where hawkish Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak both warned that the Jewish state would never accept a Hamas government.
“With this accord, a red line has been crossed,” Lieberman told Israel’s military radio yesterday, threatening an array of retaliatory measures, while Barak said the army would “use an iron fist to deal with any threat” and vowed to “never negotiate with Hamas.”
The agreement will see the two parties work together to form an interim government of independent politicians chosen by both sides that would operate until elections can be held, Fatah delegation chief Azzam al-Ahmad said by phone from Cairo.
He said the factions, which have been bitter enemies since the early 1990s, had agreed to set up a “government of independents.”
“This government will be tasked with preparing for presidential and legislative elections within a year,” he said.
Senior Hamas official Mahmud Zahar, who also attended the talks, told reporters in Cairo the transitional government would be made up of personalities selected by both sides.
Representatives of Hamas and Fatah are scheduled to return to Cairo at the end of next week to sign the document, which also lays out terms for the release of political detainees by both sides, Zahar said.
He also confirmed that Fatah and Hamas had settled their differences over the security issue, which had bedeviled the past 18 months of negotiations, which began after a failed attempt to ink a deal in October 2009.
Mussa Abu Marzuk, a top member of Hamas’s exiled leadership in Damascus, told reporters the two parties would sign the deal on Wednesday, after which they would begin immediate consultations on forming the interim government.
Shortly after the deal was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued Abbas with an ultimatum.
“Choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas,” he said, warning a deal would pave the way for Gaza’s Hamas to extend their control over the West Bank.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
RSS