Palestinian Reconciliation Hits Snag, Again

Despite claims to the contrary, the Palestinian reconciliation effort appears to have hit a snag of some sort. Publicly, both Fatah and Hamas leaders are insisting that the musalaha is going ahead and that a unified, agreed-to government will be declared by the end of the month. Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk publicly stated that the Islamic movement accepts the Doha agreement concerning the next prime minister of the state of Palestine, who will be the current president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. On the ground, statements coming out of Gaza suggest that the Central Elections Committee, which was stopped from work last summer, will be invited back next week.

But the cracks in this veneer of positive statements have been broken by both sides in the past few days. The pro-Hamas Palestinian security in Gaza arrested four journalists known to be closely affiliated to the PLO’s Fatah movement earlier this week. In Ramallah, Abbas criticized the visit by the Malaysian prime minister to the Gaza Strip and the agreements signed with Gaza’s prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, while skipping the temporary capital of the state of Palestine, Ramallah.