Palestinian leaders formally ended a four-year dispute between the secular Fatah movement and Islamist group Hamas during a ceremony in Egypt, a reconciliation that they consider crucial to their campaign to establish an independent state. Israel, which in 1967 captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where Palestinians want to build their country, condemned the pact as a blow to the prospects for peace.
"We announce to the Palestinians whenever we turned to the black page of the division," said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his opening speech. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to London: "What happened today in Cairo is a huge blow to peace and a great victory for terrorism." Hamas, whose founding statute calls for the destruction of Israel took the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in a brief civil war in 2007.
The group has rejected the search for a negotiated peace with the Jewish state. In what seemed a sign of the continuing friction between the two factions, the ceremony was briefly delayed by a disagreement about the protocol. Palestinian sources said the dispute was over whether Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader, was to appear on the podium with Abbas and Palestinian delegates and others in the room.
Against all expectations, neither signed the document of unity. Hamas leaders will meet with Abbas next week, possibly in Cairo to begin work on implementing the agreement, said Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy of Meshaal, after the ceremony. In his speech, Meshaal said Hamas seeks a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza devoid of Jewish settlers and not "give an inch of land" or the right of Palestinian refugees to return.
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but kept the settlement activity in much of the West Bank. The unity pact provides for the formation of an interim government in the occupied West Bank where Abbas is set and the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas. The agreement includes the conduct of parliamentary and presidential elections within a year.
In his speech, Abbas repeated his demand to halt Jewish settlement activity as a condition for resuming peace talks with Israel, which began in September but was frozen a few weeks after Netanyahu refused to extend a moratorium on the construction . "The State of Palestine should be born this year," he said.
Abbas is widely expected to ask the UN General Assembly in September in recognition of a Palestinian state in the entire West Bank and Gaza. Israel and the United States opposes unilateral action in this regard. Palestinians see reconciliation as an essential step to present a united front to the UN and as a reflection of the deep public desire to end internal division, amid popular uprisings that have shaken the Arab world.
But the pact could create diplomatic problems with Abbas's Palestinian Authority, which relies on foreign aid. Much of the West marginalize Hamas over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept the agreements interim Israeli-Palestinian peace. United States reacted calmly to the reconciliation agreement.
A State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, said Washington would monitor the formation of any new Palestinian government before agreeing to provide further assistance. Palestinian officials said Wednesday's ceremony was a "celebration." But the demonstrations of joy were less enthusiastic in the West Bank, where some doubt that the agreement is genuine.
"We decided to pay any price to achieve reconciliation," said Meshaal. "Our real fight is against the Israeli occupation, not with the Palestinian factions and the children of the one nation," he said. A spokesman for Abbas, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said the pact was signed in the name of Azzam al-Fatah and Hamas Ahmad Mousa Abu Marzouk.
It was not immediately clear why Meshaal and Abbas did not put their own signature on the agreement. Egypt established a committee to oversee the implementation of the agreement. 
"We announce to the Palestinians whenever we turned to the black page of the division," said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his opening speech. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to London: "What happened today in Cairo is a huge blow to peace and a great victory for terrorism." Hamas, whose founding statute calls for the destruction of Israel took the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in a brief civil war in 2007.
The group has rejected the search for a negotiated peace with the Jewish state. In what seemed a sign of the continuing friction between the two factions, the ceremony was briefly delayed by a disagreement about the protocol. Palestinian sources said the dispute was over whether Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader, was to appear on the podium with Abbas and Palestinian delegates and others in the room.
Against all expectations, neither signed the document of unity. Hamas leaders will meet with Abbas next week, possibly in Cairo to begin work on implementing the agreement, said Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy of Meshaal, after the ceremony. In his speech, Meshaal said Hamas seeks a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza devoid of Jewish settlers and not "give an inch of land" or the right of Palestinian refugees to return.
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but kept the settlement activity in much of the West Bank. The unity pact provides for the formation of an interim government in the occupied West Bank where Abbas is set and the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas. The agreement includes the conduct of parliamentary and presidential elections within a year.
In his speech, Abbas repeated his demand to halt Jewish settlement activity as a condition for resuming peace talks with Israel, which began in September but was frozen a few weeks after Netanyahu refused to extend a moratorium on the construction . "The State of Palestine should be born this year," he said.
Abbas is widely expected to ask the UN General Assembly in September in recognition of a Palestinian state in the entire West Bank and Gaza. Israel and the United States opposes unilateral action in this regard. Palestinians see reconciliation as an essential step to present a united front to the UN and as a reflection of the deep public desire to end internal division, amid popular uprisings that have shaken the Arab world.
But the pact could create diplomatic problems with Abbas's Palestinian Authority, which relies on foreign aid. Much of the West marginalize Hamas over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept the agreements interim Israeli-Palestinian peace. United States reacted calmly to the reconciliation agreement.
A State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, said Washington would monitor the formation of any new Palestinian government before agreeing to provide further assistance. Palestinian officials said Wednesday's ceremony was a "celebration." But the demonstrations of joy were less enthusiastic in the West Bank, where some doubt that the agreement is genuine.
"We decided to pay any price to achieve reconciliation," said Meshaal. "Our real fight is against the Israeli occupation, not with the Palestinian factions and the children of the one nation," he said. A spokesman for Abbas, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said the pact was signed in the name of Azzam al-Fatah and Hamas Ahmad Mousa Abu Marzouk.
It was not immediately clear why Meshaal and Abbas did not put their own signature on the agreement. Egypt established a committee to oversee the implementation of the agreement.
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