The Background

• It was reported yesterday that Fatah and Hamas have signed letters of agreement, in which the two parties have pledged to proceed in the coming days with a full national reconciliation deal between Palestinian factions. If enacted, such an agreement would mark a unification of the Palestinian leadership, which was severely fractured following Hamas’s violent takeover of Gaza in June of 2007.
   
• Reports reveal the two parties will together form an interim government and hold elections within one year. Although details of a final agreement remain vague, a Hamas spokesman has said that “all points of difference” have been settled between the two parties.

Points to Consider

1. President Mahmoud Abbas can either choose to join forces with Hamas, or make peace with Israel. He cannot do both.
   • Israel has offered to meet with Abbas, immediately and without precondition, to negotiate the terms for genuine peace and full Palestinian statehood.
      
   • The Hamas Covenant rejects all peace negotiations, vows to destroy the state of Israel, and pledges to launch a genocide against the Jewish people.
      
   • Fatah is signatory to the Oslo Agreements, which recognize Israel’s right to exist in peace and security, renounces violence and terrorism, and commits to peaceful negotiations as the only solution to the conflict.
      
   • National unity governments only work when parties share core beliefs. If President Abbas chooses to merge forces with Hamas, it would make negotiations impossible, and risk destroying the peace process.
      
2. The international community has long affirmed that Hamas cannot be treated as a legitimate party until it disavows its pledge to destroy Israel.
   • As an essential principle in advancing peace, the international community has maintained a commitment to support moderates and oppose extremists.
      
   • This is the basis of the long-held precept that Hamas cannot be considered a legitimate player until it ceases acts of terrorism, and renounces its plans for genocide, holy war, and the destruction of Israel. The Quartet on the Middle East, and others in the international community, have reiterated these conditions on numerous occasions – and must stand by their position today.

Further Reading

• Reports from Ha’aretz, the Jerusalem Post, and Reuters.
   
• Text of the Hamas Covenant.
   
• Text of exchange of letters between the PLO and Israel (1993).