This week's new round of Fatah-Hamas talks ended as they were about to start. Amira Howeidy finds out why Despite attempts by unnamed Egyptian officials to imply that the Fatah- Hamas talks that took place in Cairo this week were conducted in a "positive" atmosphere and that "progress" was achieved, there is little evidence of a breakthrough. The talks, which were due to begin Sunday 26 April, were suddenly postponed to the next day, 27 April. Fatah's delegation, headed by Ahmed Qurei, and the Hamas team, headed by politburo member Moussa Abu Marzouk, held a closed-door meeting Monday where the only achievement -- as announced by the two parties -- was agreeing to a system of proportional and semi-proportional voting methods in the next general elections due January 2010. Standing in opposed camps, often with guns pointed at each other, the Palestinian election voting system was hardly a reason for the animosity between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas's election victory in 2006 and the consequent defeat of Fatah (which dominated Palestinian politics since the late 1960s and became synonymous with the Palestinian liberation movement before it laid down its arms and recognised Israel in the late 1990s) was followed by the latter's attempt to remove Hamas from power, with the help of Israel and the George W Bush administration. The conflict resulted in Hamas's seizure in 2007 of Gaza, a situation that led to a sharp and often bloody divide between the Palestinians. While Gaza is under Hamas's control, Fatah's leadership based in the West Bank gives it some leverage in this part of the Palestinian occupied territories. Adamant on weakening and discrediting Hamas, which doesn't recognise Israel, opposes previous agreements between Tel Aviv and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and vows to continue its struggle for liberation, Israel imposed a strict blockade of Gaza since 2007. When that backfired with a rise in Hamas's popularity, Israel launched a vicious 22-day war on Gaza earlier this year. This war killed 1,400 Palestinians with more than 100,000 people displaced and left homeless. The Hamas government says that 5,000 buildings were completely destroyed and another 20,000 damaged or partially destroyed in the fighting. It didn't work either; Hamas, much to Israel and Fatah's disappointment, still controls Gaza. But because of the war and its disastrous consequences, in addition to the existing blockade, it has become imperative for both Hamas and Fatah to address local and international calls to form a national unity government that represents all Palestinians. The demand for a national unity government has also become the primary condition of international donors -- who have pledged $4.5 billion for the reconstruction of Gaza -- to get money rolling into the Strip. This is the main point of the Cairo- sponsored faction talks. Every passing day without a unity government only prolongs the suffering of Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants. Previous talks in Cairo that took place in March and early April failed to resolve the complicated and thorny issues blocking reconciliation, namely the restructuring of the security apparatuses based in Gaza and the West Bank and reforming the PLO which does not include the now popular Hamas and Islamic Jihad organisations in its membership. While progress in these and other compelling issues has been slow, the issue of who controls besieged and war torn Gaza -- on the northeast border of Egypt -- is now the focus of Egyptian intelligence that has sponsored the inter-Palestinian dialogue since 2004. A proposal by the Egyptians for a temporary solution to Gaza was offered to Hamas and Fatah at the end of the third round of talks early April. Both factions were due to address this proposal, amongst the other controversial reconciliation issues, in their meeting this week in Cairo. But the talks, which lasted one and a half days, failed again to achieve results. Both parties had vowed to refrain from criticising each other in the media. As a result almost everyone who attended this week's talks seemed to agree on one thing: a statement saying the meeting was conducted in a "positive" atmosphere and that a new round of talks will take place mid- May. But inside sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that the meeting was anything but "positive". "Hamas and Fatah decided to postpone their differences until 15 May," a source close to Hamas said. He explained that statements made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday where he stated that any Palestinian national unity government has to recognise Israel and accept previously signed agreements were seen as setting unacceptable conditions for Hamas. Ironically, Abbas's view seems at odds with a more flexible approach taken by Washington and even Cairo towards Hamas. According to the Los Angeles Times this week, the Obama administration is now willing to accept a Palestinian government that includes Hamas. The Egyptian proposal also seems to come to terms with the fact that Hamas will remain a key player in Palestinian decision-making. A copy of the proposal obtained by the Weekly suggests the formation of an executive committee -- representing Fatah, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and any agreed upon factions -- to "run" Gaza under the political umbrella of Palestinian Authority President Abbas. According to the proposal, this body has no political obligations. Its mandate is to prepare for general and presidential elections to take place no later than 25 January 2010, to reconstruct the Palestinian security apparatuses, to address inter-Palestinian reconciliation issues, and to supervise the reconstruction of Gaza. In other words, Cairo is throwing its weight behind a proposal that gives Hamas and other Palestinian factions legitimacy in Gaza, as opposed to its previous unconditional support for Abbas and Fatah. While Hamas seemed flexible about the proposal, Fatah was not. A meeting held by Abbas and other Fatah figures in Ramallah on 11 April (the minutes of which the Weekly obtained a copy) quotes PLO representative and aide to Abbas, Yasser Abed Rabbo, as saying that the committee is "an alternative to the [existing] government and the [Palestinian] president". Another PLO representative said the proposal "is for Hamas's interest only" arguing that "Egypt wants an achievement to our detriment." As they left Cairo Tuesday, Fatah and Hamas leaders told the press that they had "finished" this round and will return to their respective political bases to discuss the Egyptian proposal.
