After Hamas announced its position on the initiative of the factions .. Fatah calls it a courtesy

Raed Moussa-Gaza

The eight Palestinian factions plan to fortify the masses in order to protect their newly launched initiative in Gaza, with the aim of achieving reconciliation and ending the internal division in the Palestinian arena since mid-2007.

The leaders of these factions told Al Jazeera Net that their patience will not last, and will be used to the Palestinian masses in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the Diaspora in order to move in the field demonstrations million to press for reconciliation.

Al-Jazeera Net learned from leading sources that the factions will meet in Gaza on Saturday to discuss the steps to be taken based on the official response of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Islamic Resistance (Hamas) to the initiative.

While Fatah did not officially respond to the factions' initiative at the moment, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, meeting with the leaders of the eight factions at his home in al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, announced his unconditional approval.

A member of the political bureau of Islamic Jihad, Khaled al-Batsh, thanked Haniyeh and the Hamas leadership for responding to the initiative and approved it, while calling on Fatah and President Mahmoud Abbas to take a similar position to achieve reconciliation and face the deal of the century.

National vision
Dr. Fayez Abu Eita, deputy secretary of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, said that the movement "welcomes the efforts of the factions and is considering its initiative, but it is required to leave the court of courtesies to the square of action to impose a national vision that binds everyone."

Abu Eita described in his interview with Al Jazeera Net the factions' initiative as "a loose courtesy paper and not decisive", and does not serve as an entrance to achieve reconciliation, because it did not put forward new, but offered previous agreements, and did not hold one party responsible, and forgot that Hamas did not abide by the 2017 agreement, which Sponsored by Egypt, before his ink dries. "

He continued, "Who wants to cut the way the solution lies in the election fund, and the 2017 agreement is still in place and includes mechanisms and timetables for real reconciliation."

The agreement signed in October 2017 provides for the formation of a government of national unity, a solution to the problem of Hamas employees, an agreement on the date of legislative and presidential elections, and the reform of the PLO, but differences between the two movements have prevented its implementation amid an exchange of responsibility.

Abu Eita said that "Hamas is required to agree to hold elections on a date to be agreed upon, and let the Palestinian people say their word," adding, "We are going through difficult political, social and economic conditions that require doing everything necessary for our people."

In turn, a member of the political bureau of Hamas Suhail al-Hindi described Abu Eita to the factions initiative as a "courtesy paper" as a rejection of them, calling on Fatah to respect the will of the Palestinian people.

Al-Hindi said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the 2017 agreement adhered to by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas when he took a decision does not have the right to abolish the Legislative Council, and the formation of a Fatah government headed by a member of the Central Committee of the Movement, Mohamed Ashtiyeh, ignoring the item of national unity government.

He added that "many things are no longer on the ground, and we have exceeded the 2017 agreement by the actions and decisions of Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) unilateral."

Al-Hindi said Hamas would respect the vision of the collective factions and their right to declare those who hinder the completion of reconciliation. "We are bored with compliments," he said. "There must be a real will to end the division. Life in Gaza is almost frozen and unbearable."

Four items
Eight factions - the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front, the Palestinian People's Party, the National Initiative Movement, the Palestinian Democratic Union (Fida), the Popular Front-General Command, and the Vanguard of the People's Liberation War - put forward an initiative of four main items to achieve unity and end the division.

Nasser al-Far, a member of the Central Committee of the People's Party, expressed the readiness of the factions to listen to any remarks on the items of the initiative, so as not to "torpedo" it and maintain its essence, leading to an agreement ending the division.

Al-Far said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the initiative officially reached Fatah, Hamas and President Abbas, in addition to the Egyptian mediator and the Arab League.

He stressed that the factions will not allow the collapse of their vision, and will resort to the Palestinian people of all spectrums and sectors to form a "popular incubator pressure" on the obstructed party.

As for the factions that have the cards to protect its initiative, Talal Abu Zarifa, a member of the political bureau of the Democratic Front, said that "popular pressure and mass movement will not stop. The Palestinian people are tired of division and palliative solutions."

Abu Zarifa said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the factions have invited the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit to visit Gaza, in order to give the initiative more momentum and push towards the achievement of reconciliation as soon as possible.

He stressed that "we have no choice but to end the division, and we will spare none of the cards of power we have in order to achieve unity and reconciliation."