According to Palestinian sources, the latest Egyptian proposal to end the Hamas-Fatah rift calls for lifting the sanctions which the Palestinian Authority imposed on the Gaza Strip last year, rescinding the PA decision to stop payments to thousands of its employees and funds to ministries, and resuming tax-free payments for fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip’s power plant.
The proposal, the sources said, also calls for allowing PA ministers to assume their work in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave, and the launching of consultations to form a Palestinian “national unity government” within five weeks.The proposal reportedly permits Hamas to collect taxes and tariffs in the Gaza Strip on behalf of the PA government. Hamas would then deduct part of the funds to pay salaries to its own employees, mainly its security personnel, according to the proposal.Meanwhile, the PA government would absorb some 20,000 civil servants employed by Hamas after its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.At a later stage, the proposal says, the border crossings connecting the Gaza Strip with Israel and Egypt would be fully reopened, while taking into consideration the security needs of the two countries.However, it was not clear whether the proposal addresses the issue of Hamas’s security forces and its armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.Fatah leaders, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas, have repeatedly demanded that Hamas hand over security control over the Gaza Strip – a demand that Hamas has completely rejected.Fatah leaders have been holding intensive discussions in Ramallah to discuss the Egyptian proposal.A senior Fatah official said on Thursday that representatives of his faction had “a few reservations” about the proposal. He said that the Fatah officials were particularly worried about the status of Hamas’s security forces and military wing.Our major concern is that the [Egyptian] proposal fully endorses the Hamas position,” the official said. He and other Fatah officials said they believed that Hamas leaked the Egyptian proposal to the media in order to “throw the ball into Fatah’s court.”Fatah spokesperson Atef Abu Seif said that his faction’s stance towards the Egyptian initiative was “positive.” “The Fatah leadership is currently studying the proposal, and we are optimistic about the chances of achieving national unity.” A senior Fatah delegation will visit Cairo in the coming days to present its response to the Egyptians, he added.
Hamas accepts Egyptian proposal to end dispute with Fatah
Egypt has exerted heavy pressure on Hamas and Fatah to end the enmity between them.
