Representatives of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas met in Cairo this week for talks aimed at national reconciliation and the formation of a unity government."Egypt hopes this meeting is the real start of a new period ending the state of division which has gone on too long," Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Egypt's point-man on Palestinian affairs, was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, delegations from both Fatah and Hamas held preliminary meetings in Cairo aimed at removing obstacles to rapprochement. Delegation members later described the meetings as "positive." According to the state press, the two groups agreed to release each other's detained members, currently being held in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and the Fatah-controlled West Bank respectively. As a gesture of goodwill, Fatah reportedly released 42 Hamas members from West Bank prisons, with promises of additional releases soon.
The issue of detainees has tripped up reconciliation talks in the past. Last November Hamas and other resistance factions pulled out of a scheduled reconciliation summit in Cairo at the last minute, citing the ongoing mass arrest of their members in the West Bank.
Ever since Hamas swept Palestinian legislative elections in early 2006, the two factions have pursued bitter rivalry featuring intermittent fighting and arrest campaigns. Mutual hostility reached boiling point in the summer of 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in a pre-emptive coup.
Further complicating the situation, Israel and Egypt - with the PA's blessings - have both sealed their borders with the strip, hermetically sealing the enclave off from the outside world. On Thursday, talks in Cairo were broadened to include ten more Palestinian factions in addition to Fatah and Hamas. Along with the formation of a national unity government, discussions touched on upcoming presidential and legislative elections, the restructuring of Palestinian security apparatuses and the role of Hamas in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Details of Thursday's closed-door meeting remain vague, but Suleiman reportedly stressed the importance of reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.
"Do not prolong the disagreement and deepen the division," he was quoted as saying in advance of the gathering.
"Unite ranks to fulfill the hopes for an independent Palestinian state." According to Essam al-Arian, prominent member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement, Hamas' steadfastness during Israel's recent three-week-long assault on the Gaza Strip served to bolster the group's negotiating position.