- Title: Short of funds and friends, Hamas seeks to end feud with Fatah
- Date: 28th September 2017
- Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING AT PALESTINIAN COMMUNITY RECONCILIATION MEETING HAMAS AND FATAH LEADERS IN GAZA ON PODIUM WOMEN AT MEETING
- Embargoed: 12th October 2017 14:59
- Keywords: Palestinians internal unity Fatah-Hamas division Palestinian government Gaza West Bank
- Location: GAZA CITY, KHAN YOUNIS AND RAFAH, GAZA / RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City: GAZA CITY, KHAN YOUNIS AND RAFAH, GAZA / RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00270IFQYV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Beset by economic and diplomatic woes, the Palestinian faction Hamas has swallowed a bitter pill by agreeing to end a decade-old feud with its rival Fatah, in a move that could facilitate a U.S.-backed regional Israeli-Arab peace plan.
Perhaps bitterest of all for Gaza's rulers, much groundwork for the move was laid by Mohammed Dahlan, a once-loathed foe who is now a leading player in regional efforts to pull Hamas back into the Palestinian mainstream.
Old wounds will be hard to salve, and memories of their battling cadres shooting out kneecaps or torturing each other in partisan prisons still grate.
But short of funds and friends, Hamas may have few options but to make concessions to its rivals.
Politicians from both sides of the Palestinian divide and Gulf diplomatic sources say the former Gaza security chief and his Arab patrons are seeking to help end the blockade of the coastal enclave.
Hamas may need all the friends it can get to rescue Gaza's two million Palestinians from severe poverty and unemployment.
Hamas, still the strongest power in the enclave where its security forces are dominant, agreed this month to dissolve its administration that runs Gaza and hand it over to a Palestinian unity government after a decade of bitter rivalry with Abbas.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah and other officials of his unity government visit the Gaza Strip on Monday (October 2) to assume administrative control from Hamas.
The handover suggests Dahlan's advocates in Egypt and the UAE realize any bid to put the Palestinian house in order, for now at least, need to deal with Abbas in Ramallah - the recognized interlocutor with the Israelis.
Recognizing the economic suffering in Gaza, Dahlan has pumped in millions of dollars of Gulf funds to soothe the wounds of the 2007 Palestinian civil war.
Twenty Palestinian families, who lost loved ones in the 2007 civil war in which Hamas Islamists seized Gaza from Fatah movement fighters loyal to Abbas, have each received $50,000 in compensation under the plan promoted by Dahlan.
The mother of Ala al-Zanoun, a Fatah-aligned officer who was killed during the clashes said forgiveness was difficult, but avoiding any acts of revenge was important. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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