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Bloomberg
The Gaza Strip’s militant Hamas rulers said they were ready to take key steps meant to allow the reunification of the rival Palestinian governments.
The group said it agreed to dismantle the administrative committee that runs Gaza and hold nationwide elections. It asked the West Bank-based government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to return to Gaza, which Hamas has ruled since it violently wrested control of the territory 10 years ago.
“Hamas invites the consensus government to come to Gaza to practice its mission and carry out its duties in the Gaza Strip immediately, and it accepts holding general elections,†it said. The two sides have made several attempts at reconciliation.
This latest effort comes at a time when Gaza’s economy is a shambles, battered by an Israeli and Egyptian blockade, three wars with Israel, and Abbas’s decision earlier this year to reduce funding for electricity in an effort to put additional pressure on Hamas.
The progress in talks this time is a testament to Egypt’s closer ties with Hamas.
Egypt has grown more involved in recent months in Gaza as it tries to contain militant attacks centred in the Sinai peninsula, which borders the Palestinian territory and southern Israel. Delegations from Fatah and Hamas travelled to Cairo to discuss reconciliation.
“There is apparently a wave
of optimism this time because
it seems that the Egyptians
are more serious than before,
and also because Hamas and Egypt’s ties are getting better,â€
said Talal Oukal, a Gaza-based
political analyst.