The London-based al-Hayat reported this weekend that while working in earnest on reconciliation, Hamas and PA senior officials are divided on the future of Hamas’ military arm and the donations it receives from foreign sources. According to the report, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had set three new conditions for a reconciliation: dismantling Hamas’ military apparatus; barring external involvement in the administration of the Gaza Strip; and transparency regarding funds intended for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip.
According to Palestinian sources, these conditions are aimed at blocking any involvement of Muhammad Dahlan or Qatari officials in the Gaza Strip.
A senior PA official told Haaretz that Abbas would not agree to implementing a model similar to that of Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying, “If there is no uniform rule where things are managed by institutions subject to the rule of law, as in any normal country, it would be impossible to talk about genuine national reconciliation.”
Hamas deputy politburo chief Dr. Musa Abu Marzuq is said to have demanded clarification from Abbas on this matter, arguing that Hamas’ military force should not be included in the discussion with the Palestinian Authority, since it is “a weapon designed to protect the Palestinian people, and as long as the Palestinian people are under occupation, this weapon will continue to be ready for any scenario.”
Of course, back in 2007, this “defensive weapon” was instrumental in throwing PA officials off the rooftops of Gaza, as the Islamist terror group was completing its cleansing of the Gaza Strip.
Speaking of defensive weapons, head of the Hamas political bureau in Gaza Yahya Sanwar meanwhile boasted that Hamas’ military wing has the ability to fire at Tel Aviv in juts 51 minutes the same number of rockets it had fired into all of Israel over the five weeks of the 2014 Gaza war. Sanwar also said that below Gaza City there is “another city of tunnels that can provide protection for the fighters for a long period of time.”
So, it’s all about peaceful reconciliation.
The reconciliation festivities are scheduled to resume on Tuesday, with a Palestinian Authority cabinet meeting to be held in Gaza, complete with dozens of Ramallah officials and the press corps, as well as the PA Intelligence chief Majed Faraj and the chief of the PA Preventive Security.