RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Professor of political science Abdulsattar Qasem downplayed the chances of reaching a genuine national reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah factions if the Palestinian authority (PA) did not end its security cooperation with Israel and its financial dependence on the West.
"I believe there is great potential for achieving the reconciliation if the real causes of the division and strife between Fatah and Hamas factions have been tackled," the professor underlined.
"The main reason is the agreements signed with Israel, specifically the security coordination which means that the Palestinian should arrest the Palestinian and provide Israel with information about the Palestinian; therefore, if this security coordination did not stop, there could be no reconciliation, and this was evident in the agreements of Cairo in 2005 and Makka in 2007," he added.
"If the PA decided now to halt the security coordination, it would certainly sacrifice the western funds; it has to choose between the western money or the Palestinian unity, and so far it is clear that the PA has chosen to sacrifice the national unity, but in case it decided to forfeit the western money, it would have to look for alternatives to it," the professor stated.
Report: Fatah, Hamas Reach Understandings
A Palestinian source said that preliminary meetings between Hamas and Fatah officials have led to mutual understandings between the sides, Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam reported on Saturday.
According to the source, the understandings will be officially published after a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal, scheduled to take place in Cairo next week.
The two are slated to discuss the implementation of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation agreement, as well as the Parliamentary and presidential elections.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Youssef, the former political adviser of Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, noted that the two sides have agreed that the next Palestinian government will be based in Gaza, adding that the next prime minister may also be a resident of the Strip.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad commented on the tension between the factions, writing in his Facebook page that he will not force himself upon the Palestinian people.
Fayyad has called on the Palestinian factions to reach an agreement over the appointment of a new prime minister. Hamas fiercely objects to having Fayyad serve in the transition government.
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