Report: Hamas, Fatah to hold fresh talks next week

Warring Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas are to hold a new round of reconciliation talks in the Qatari capital of Doha next week, an official from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement said.

A statement released Thursday by Azzam al-Ahmad, the member of Fatah’s Central Committee who is in charge of reconciliation, said that the two sides would focus on ways to implement an agreement reached in March, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported.

The two sides have been at odds since a bloody 2007 coup saw Fatah ejected from the Gaza Strip, which is now solely ruled by Hamas. Fatah, in contrast, has control in the West Bank, where it has been working to repel attempts by Hamas to increase its influence.

Al-Ahmad said the implementation would require “honest political intentions” to heal the rift between the two sides, according to Ma’an. But he also warned that recent comments by senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzook — who reportedly claimed that the upcoming talks would focus on political issues — were not encouraging and could have an adverse impact on the outcome.

Al-Ahmad also headed talks in Doha in March, which ended with an agreement to establish a national unity government encompassing Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions and to hold elections for the legislative council and the presidency within six months.

They also agreed that the unity government would work according to Palestine Liberation Organization guidelines, Fatah Central Committee Mohammed Ashtiya said at the time. However, he did not make any reference to some of the more critical issues that have divided Hamas and Fatah, such as the fate of prisoners, political arrests, and the return of Palestinian Authority rule to the Gaza Strip.

Many meetings have been held over the years and three agreements were signed — in Qatar, Cairo and Gaza — but none has led to any real change on the ground.