Palestinians Unite, by Orders of Egypt!By Fahed Khitan

(MENAFN- Alghad Newspaper)

Hamas, in Gaza, just took a number of steps to encourage Palestinian reconciliation, to overcome the divide, which has hurt the Palestinians and more so their just cause.

Following numerous rounds of negotiations in Cairo, Hamas declared the dismantlement of the Gaza administration committee.

By doing so, Hamas is placing the Strip under the command of the consolidated Palestinian government in Ramallah.

Their only condition is that the legislative elections follow soon, all across the Palestinian 'state.

More or less, Hamas's decisions seem to have come as a surprise to Fath and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Cautiously, the PA welcomed the move, at first.

Immediately afterwards, Hamas handed Gaza Strip over to the PA.

Just as soon, the Authority recognised Hamas's serious intentions and their readiness to agree to the consolidated government.

Naturally, there is a number of entanglements between the two parties; issues which need to be addressed before execution.

One of the more sensitive, complicated issues is integrating the Gaza public service sector in the PA's government sector.

Perhaps another challenge is putting an end to the dispute over legislative and presidential elections, once and for all.

The conditions, however, surrounding Hamas's sudden eagerness and openness to shaking the Authority's hand, under Egyptian patronage, are unclear.

Is Hamas's decision reflective of an all-encompassing Palestinian inclination, or is it just part of an understanding with Egypt, following years of besiegement?

It is no secret that the humanitarian situation in Gaza has been increasing deteriorating under siege, be it by Egypt, Israel, or other players.

By the looks of it, it would seem that Hamas's surprising decisions were somewhat forced, or imposed by Egypt, as opposed to being a product of national Palestinian dialogue.

Notably, negotiations between Hamas and PA launched a while ago, but they soon ran aground, to no viable end.

Meanwhile, these recent developments came under Ismail Haniyeh's recent arrival in power, one of Gaza's own.

He, on the other hand, has strong ties with Egypt.

It is not news to us that Cairo is seeking to secure its borders with Gaza, in order to cut off the terrorists in Sinai.

For long, the Egyptian regime has been accusing the extremists in Gaza of supporting, homing, and protecting the terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula.

Over again, Hamas denied Egypt's claims.

However, these accusations gave pretext for the suppression of Gazans, legitimising Egypt's blockade on Gaza.

To overcome the stalemate, Egypt demand a few tokens of good faith, and in return, Gazans will have some freedom to move back and forth through the border crossing with Egypt.

All the while, President Mahmoud Abbas remains doubtful and sceptical of Egypt's role in the reconciliation.

Concessions leading up to this moment have allowed Abbas's archenemy to regain influence in Gaza; Mohammad Dahlan.

Abbas fears that maybe later Dahlan would sneak into Ramallah to reignite the feud.

Truth be told, Abbas was never on the same page with Egypt.

Mostly because of the Egyptian regime's close ties to Dahlan and the outright support Egypt gave him as Abbas's predecessor.

Now, Abbas has found himself in a position of having to deal with Cairo, and he isn't happy about it.

Hamas is well aware of this.

Regardless of Dahlan, Hamas is not interested in helping Mahmoud Abbas.

What matters most to them is getting the weight of running the Gaza Strip off their shoulders and securing access to the outer world.

That in mind, it is difficult to tell whether this reconciliation prefaces a future for the Palestinians or not.

This reconciliation is shrouded in confusion, and everything depends on the outcome of one central question; is this the will of the Palestinians or the imposition of Cairo?!

This article is an edited translation of the Arabic version, published by AlGhad.

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