Fatah and Hamas agree deal for unity government to take control of Gaza.


Breakthrough agreement negotiated in Cairo is designed to ease blockade and open way to reconstruction after Gaza war
Fatah and Hamas
Fatah and Hamas negotiators in Cairo. Photograph: Khaled Elfiqi/EPA
The two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, have reached a “comprehensive” agreement that would turn over the civil administration of Gaza immediately to officials of a Palestinian unity government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
The agreement, negotiated in Cairo, is designed to ease the long blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt and open the way to reconstruction of the war-ravaged coastal entity. A recent Palestinian Authority study estimated the cost of reconstruction in Gaza following this summer’s 50-day conflict with Israel at $7.8bn (£4.8bn)
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Palestinian officials said the agreement would allow the Palestinian Authority to take control over the border crossings of the Gaza Strip, including the crucial Rafah crossing into Egypt – a key demand of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
According to sources in Egypt close to the talks, Palestinian Authority security forces would also control the Philadelphia corridor, a key strip adjoining the border with Egypt.
Officials from the rival factions began meeting in Cairo on Wednesday to try to overcome their differences and strengthen their hand for talks with Israel slated for late next month.
The breakthrough deal would formally bring an end to Hamas’s seven-year long rule of Gaza, during which time it has fought three wars with Israel. Hamas asserted its control over the Gaza Strip in 2007 after winning Palestinian legislative elections the year before.
“Fatah and Hamas have reached a comprehensive agreement for the unity government to return to the Gaza Strip,” said Jibril Rajoub, a senior official in Fatah.
Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk and Fatah’s head of delegation, Azam al-Ahmad, later confirmed a deal had been reached, the details of which are expected to be formally announced later on Thursday.
Although the two sides agreed to a unity deal before the recent war between Israel and Hamas, plans to implement the technocratic unity government’s – led by Abbas – were stalled over a series of disputes. Hamas formally stepped aside on 2 June, but Abbas accusing it of continuing to run a “parallel” administration as de facto ruler in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas in turn complained that Abbas’s Palestinian Authority was refusing to pay 45,000 Hamas employees in Gaza. “All civil servants will be paid by the unity government because they are all Palestinians and it is the government of all Palestinians,” said Azzam Ahmed, of Abbas’s Fatah movement.
Another key point of contention has been who will be allowed to declare war and manage any future conflicts.
Ceasefire negotiations that ended the conflict in Gaza in August stipulated that the Palestinian Authority led by Abbas should take over administration of Gaza.
Ceding effective control of Gaza, especially so soon after the end of the latest round of conflict with Israel, would be a significant step for Hamas. In the last seven years both Fatah and Hamas have clamped down on their rivals in their respective power bases in the West Bank and Gaza.
Years of attempted mediation had failed to bring the two sides closer until the signing of their reconciliation agreement in April, which despite being mired in bitter disputes has progressed further than many had anticipated.
On Friday Abbas is due to address the UN general assembly and unveil a new diplomatic initiative designed to bring an end to Israel’s 47-year occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“The United Nations will come to an agreement with Israel and the unity government on how to run the crossings [into Gaza],” Marzouk said.
The Palestinian agreement was crucial in order to present a unified strategy during talks with Israeli negotiators due in October.
Those talks, under Egyptian mediation, are aimed at reaching a durable ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians after the Gaza war, which killed more than 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side.
 theguardian.

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