A senior official of Hamas highlighted the presence of a US-Israel veto as a big part of a participation of a movement that hinders the reconciliation with Palestine. There are clear standstills between Hamas and Fatah in negotiations, based on the reports highlighted by Jerusalem News Online. Mousa Abu Marzook declared that Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President, insisted during a meeting with the Doha Hamas leadership that the conditions he had needed to be met before reconciliation could happen. Hamas did officially declined the conditions that were stipulated, as anyone following Abu Mazen news knows.
Abu Marzook was quoted in an interview held with Alaraby Aljadeed that no further meetings are going to happen until Fatah will change the position he has. Talks have to be based on what was already agreed during past meetings. He pointed out that “There are no scheduled reconciliation meetings.”
According to Marzook, Hamas will not be able to turn the back on this reconciliation and cannot actually abandon it. The movement will not be able to exist well in the future in the event that the situation remains exactly as it is right now. Marzook was asked why reconciliation agreements were not implemented and the reply was that everything is basically connected to the work and the wishes of President Abbas. He said:
“Abu Mazen gives consideration to the international community and Israel above the desires of the Palestinian people regarding the reconciliation. He can end this issue, but he has the perspective of not wanting the PA and its institutions to be antagonized and fought, as Hamas is, and he does not want the blockade imposed on Hamas to be transferred to the government if Hamas becomes a part of it. “
There is a clear veto by both Israel and USA about the participation of Hamas in the Palestinian government at any possible level, according to Hamas officials. Simply put, the president does not really want the PLC (Palestine Legislative Council) to meet since Hamas is one part of it. He said that Hamas is not desired to be added to the government of Palestine so reconciliation is basically impossible. Whenever a solution is reached, it will not be implemented, because of that US-Israel veto that was highlighted above, even if matters about reconciliation were resolved in the 8 years of talk that have been going on.
Abu Marzook believes that absolutely everything is connected with what he president will decide. While he always talks about having elections, there is no decree that is issued about the election. The normal question about whether or not reconciliation is actually desired has to appear. Abbas announced local elections a long time ago. Hamas did agree to the election even if the group was not consulted. Then, the elections were cancelled.
The general belief is that Hamas is looking for a complete reconciliation. However, this is something that should happen between 2 sides, not just one. Hamas did agree with the resignation of a government that the group saw as legitimate, the government of Ismail Haniyah. They then nominated Rami Hamdallah but even so, the position was not accepted. While Hamas does accept the reconciliation, no tools exist for possible implementation.
