Palestinians suggest panel to push reconciliation, but not accepted

Rival Palestinian political leaders meeting in Egypt have decided to form a committee on intra-Palestinian reconciliation, a move that one analyst doubted would end their 17-year rift.

In a statement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he “hopes for an upcoming meeting soon in Egypt to announce to our people the end” of the 17-year split “and the return to Palestinian national unity.”

Abbas held rare face-to-face talks with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the coastal city of El Alamein along with representatives of most Palestinian political factions.

“”We must return to a single state, a single system, a single law and a single legitimate army,” Abbas says

The Hamas leader says “a new, inclusive parliament must be formed on the basis of free democratic elections.”

Palestinian political scientist Moukhaimer Abu Saada tells AFP that the formation of the committee was no cause for celebration.

“The best way to kill something is to form a committee for it,” he says, speaking from Gaza.