BICOM

Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have agreed to hold elections next May and are due to establish a caretaker government in the coming weeks, which will exclude current Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, according to Palestinian sources quoted in Haaretz. In a speech to mark Palestinian “independence day” PA President Mahmoud Abbas will nominate independent figures to lead the caretaker government as part of an agreement between Fatah and Hamas, according to a PA official speaking to the Jerusalem Post. 

Fatah and Hamas have been holding talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo over the past few weeks in an effort to form a temporary government until presidential and parliamentary elections are held. There have been several efforts in the past by Fatah and Hamas to reach an agreement. Last May, both factions reached an agreement, but it was not implemented due to the differences between the two parties over a number of issues, primarily among them the identity of the prime minister who would head a new unity government. Hamas’s refusal to accept Salaam Fayyad as head of the proposed government was the major obstacle in achieving reconciliation between the two sides.

However, an announcement by Fayyad earlier this week that he would be prepared to step down – to pave the way for the implementation of a Fatah-Hamas unity deal – now seems to have cleared the way for reconciliation between the two factions. Nevertheless, Fayyad stepping down will affect the Palestinian Authority’s relationship with the US and EU, who have been supportive of Fayyad’s reforms and policies. Abbas hoped to keep Fayyad as interim-prime minister because of his important role in maintaining close working relationships between the Palestinians, Israel and the US on the ground. His departure may hamper these relations and could harm Palestinian state-building efforts.

It seems, however, that Abbas had little to lose by dropping his demand to keep Fayyad on as prime minister after both Israel and the US withheld PA funds. In fact, the split in Palestinian leadership was pointed out in a UN Committee report as one of the key factors that worked against the PA’s UN statehood bid. A unity agreement between Hamas and Fatah is an attempt to rectify this.