THE Palestinian prime minister has arrived in Gaza for the most ambitious attempt yet to reconcile rival Palestinian factions.
Rami Hamdallah headed a a large delegation of Fatah officials from the West Bank who drove through the Erez Crossing at the north end of the Gaza strip in an attempt to end a 10-year rift with Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
In a significant concession, Hamas has offered to turn over all governing responsibilities to Hamdallah. However, key sticking points, primarily Hamas’s refusal to disarm its powerful military wing, are likely to complicate or even derail the reconciliation efforts in the coming weeks.
Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 after overrunning the Fatah-led forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian Authority has since governed only in autonomous enclaves of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Repeated attempts to reconcile have failed. In a press conference upon his arrival, Hamdallah described the visit as a “historic moment” towards unity of the Palestinian people.
He said: “We came on the orders of PresidentAbbas to announce to the world, from the heart of Gaza, that the Palestinian state cannot be without political and geographic unity between the West Bank and Gaza
“We know that the only way to achieve our goals is through unity, and to protect the Palestinian political system.”
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