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Report: Hamas accepts Egyptian terms for peace with Fatah

Hamas has reportedly accepted the terms of a deal proposed by Egypt to end a dispute with its rival Fatah.

By: World Israel News Staff

Hamas has reportedly accepted the terms of a deal proposed by Egypt to end a decade-long dispute with its rival Fatah.

The Times of Israel reported early Friday morning that Hamas had accepted an Egyptian reconciliation proposal and is awaiting Fatah’s response.

Egypt has reportedly exerted heavy pressure on Hamas and Fatah to end the quarrel.

Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk revealed on Wednesday that Egypt had presented the new offer.

Abu Marzouk said that the deal calls for the immediate lifting of sanctions imposed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the Gaza Strip a year ago, while Fatah will assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, reported the Jerusalem Post.

The sanctions leveled by PA head Mahmoud Abbas include the forced retirement of thousands of PA civil servants and the suspension of social assistance to hundreds of families. In addition, Abbas has refused to pay Israel for electricity and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Hamas and the Fatah-led PA have made multiple attempts at reconciliation since Hamas took control of Gaza with brutal force, and most recently signed a reconciliation agreement in November 2017, but have yet to implement it, instead escalating the conflict with mutual antagonism.

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Fatah, led by Abbas, and Hamas have waged a battle for power and control, and tensions between the two factions continue to rise.

According to Hamas, the agreement has failed because of Abbas’ refusal to lift the sanctions that he imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Fatah claims that Hamas’ refusal to disarm and cede military and political control of the Gaza Strip is the main obstacle.

In the meantime, the arm-twisting between the two rival parties is spurring intense suffering in the Gaza Strip.

Abbas has threatened to cut all budgets allocated to Gaza, estimated to amount to some $100 million, if the PA is not given full control of the area.

A senior Hamas delegation, headed by the deputy chief of Hamas Political Bureau Saleh al-Arouri, was in Cairo last week and met with the chief of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate General Abbas Kamel.

According to a Hamas statement, the delegation “discussed in-depth several key matters,” including “the internal Palestinian situation and the mechanisms to unite and reconcile the Palestinian people in the face of the various challenges posed to their cause.”