Fatah and Hamas, the two largest Palestinian parties, announced that they had reached a deal to create an interim unity government and hold elections within a year. The reconciliation agreement would bring an end to almost four years of estrangement between the factions, which began after Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
The agreement was announced in Cairo, and brokered by Egypt's caretaker military government. It represents one of the first signs that the turmoil across the Arab world is having an impact on Palestinian politics.
The Palestinian factions offered few details about the makeup of the planned unity government, though negotiators did announce that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who is hated by Hamas, will not play a role. Fayyad's absence, and the broader implications of Hamas's involvement in a unity government, could imperil the hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance that the United States provides annually to the Palestinian Authority.
Israel denounced the reconciliation deal. "The Palestinian Authority has to choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the deal crossed "a red line," and laid out several measures that Israel could take against the Palestinian Authority in response.
Source: The Foreign Policy (FP)
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