Palestinian Authority Pressing for Full Gaza Rule, Premier Says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said his government will not accept a reconciliation deal between rival Palestinian factions that puts Israel at risk.

Last month, Hamas announced that it had agreed to dissolve its administrative committee in Gaza, handing over administrative responsibilities to the unity government. It would not be a predominantly Jewish state covering Israel and most of the West Bank, an outcome popular among the Israeli right, but a binational state in which West Bank and Gaza Palestinians have full rights as citizens.

At Birzeit University near Ramallah, students and faculty say this time feels different.

Hamas’s deal with Egypt reportedly involved exiled Fatah politician Muhammed Dahlan. The palestinian Authority is the entity which is internationally recognized and supposed to prefigure an independent State.

Mohammed Harhash, a 19-year-old economics student, believes reunification means giving hope back to the people of Gaza.

The push for reunification comes as Gaza faces a mounting humanitarian crisis.

“We can not travel a journey without knowing a final destination”, he said.

Hamas security officials were on the roof of the building, while Palestinian Authority agents were deployed inside, an Agence France-Presse correspondent reported. But while this looks like a victory for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, things are not as straightforward for him as they might seem.

I am encouraged by the continuing engagement of Egypt with all sides to ensure the implementation of the Cairo understandings.

“We return to Gaza in order to conclude reconciliation and national unity and end the painful impacts of divisions and to rebuild Gaza brick by brick”, he said.

“If the region stays engaged, if Egypt’s role continues and if the political parties themselves continue to show the willingness they are now showing to work with us on this process, then it can succeed”, he told Agence France-Presse.

In May, Israel expanded the Gaza fishing zone to nine nautical miles, as opposed to six nautical miles.

A first sign of discontent surfaced on Tuesday with Hamas criticising Abbas’ decision to await the outcome of talks Fateh plans to hold with the group on October 10 before lifting sanctions he has imposed on Gaza.

“Without Yahia Sinwar this could not have happened”, claims Shtayyeh. More than a mere gesture, the cabinet’s road trip signals the resumption of administrative control of Gaza by Fatah, which lost it to Hamas in a bloody coup a decade ago.

Another important difference, according to Shtayyeh, is a green light from the Americans.

“There are two groups of weapons: There are the weapons of the government, the police and security services”, Haniyeh told Egypt’s ONTV in an interview in Gaza. “Yes it’s hard and not easy to go forward, but we only have to be optimistic this time”.

Under Hamas’ watch, Gaza has fallen deeper into poverty, battered by a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade and three devastating wars with Israel.

The Trump administration’s global negotiations representative, Jason Greenblatt, called on Monday on the Palestinians to recognize Israel and commit to non-violence, amid the latest round of renewed US-led peace efforts in the region.

Education Minister Naftali Bennet called for Israel to halt the transfer of tax revenue to Palestinians on Tuesday, in response to both Interpol’s unilateral induction of the Palestinian Authority, and the current reconciliation process between Hamas and the PA.

Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 after bloody street fighting began when Fatah refused to recognize Hamas’ election win and give up control.

“We return to Gaza again to end the division and achieve unity”.