Fatah wants Hamas to join PLO: Official
A senior official in Palestinian Fatah movement said on Thursday that the group wants Hamas to join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the two rivals gear up for more reconciliation talks amid the Gaza war.
Fatah official Muhammad Al-Lahham addressed the reconciliation talks between the group and Hamas in an interview with Al Arabiya. Lahham is a member Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, which serves as its legislative body.
Reconciliation talks
In the interview, Lahham said that Fatah has not asked Hamas to recognize Israel — only to join it in the PLO.
“Fatah did not and will not ask Hamas to recognize Israel,” Lahham told Al Arabiya. “For Hamas, all that is demanded of them is joining the PLO.”
The PLO is a Palestinian nationalist coalition led by Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The PLO declared its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 1988 and amended its charter accordingly.
Hamas has long rejected the two-state solution and seeks an Islamic state in the entirety of modern-day Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, as per its 1988 charter. Hamas presented a new political document in 2017 that included some acceptance of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders as per the “national consensus,” though it added that the group rejects “any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” according to The Associated Press.
Lahham referenced Hamas’ 2017 position, saying the Islamist group’s views match the PLO’s platform.
“Hamas in the 2017 document announced its agreement to establishing a Palestinian state on the [1967] borders, and this is the PLO’s platform,” he said, adding that the only problem lies in working out “some details” with Hamas.
Reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah have gained some momentum recently. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the two rivals will meet in China next week. That meeting will follow Hamas-Fatah talks in China that took place in May.
In March, Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinians groups met in Russia and pledged to unify under the PLO umbrella.
Tensions remain
The next talks are happening as the Palestinian factions grapple with what Hamas’ role will be once the war ends. According to the Reuters report, Hamas recognizes it cannot be part of any internationally recognized government in the Palestinian Territories but wants Fatah to agree to a new technocratic administration in the West Bank and Gaza.
“We are speaking about political partnership and political unity to restructure the Palestinian entity,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters. “Whether Hamas is in the government or outside it, that is not a prime demand of the movement, and it doesn’t see it a condition for any reconciliation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack, and the Iran-backed group is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and much of Europe, making its participation in Palestinian politics a complicated issue.
Relations between Hamas and Fatah broke down following the 2006 Palestinian elections, which Hamas won. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip the following year, leading to the current split of Hamas-run Gaza and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority administration in the West Bank. On-and-off reconciliation talks mediated by Egypt, Turkey and others have yet to lead to a comprehensive deal.
Tensions between Hamas and Fatah remain despite efforts to reach a deal. Lahham said he “hopes” for a reconciliation agreement but that recent statements from Hamas “do not indicate anything positive” and that the group has demonstrated a “lack of interest in partnership with others.”
Mohammed Hourani, another member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, told Al Arabiya on Wednesday evening that there needs to be consensus between the rivals once the war ends.
“We need to come united to the day after,” said Hourani.
Source » al-monitor.com
