Fatah signs reconciliation deal with Hamas

Palestinian party Fatah signed a reconciliation deal with Hamas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday, senior officials said. Jamal Muheisin, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee told Ma’an news agency that Fatah signed the deal because of its “positive” outlook on the plan. He added that Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad will hand over the signed document Wednesday or Thursday.

Hamas sources said earlier its senior leadership had also approved the document. According to Muheisin, he doubted Hamas’ commitment to the agreement even if the party chooses to sign it. “Even if they sign the agreement, Hamas will search for pretexts to avoid implementation of the document’s conditions because they are not seriously seeking to end disagreement,” he was quoted as saying.

On Tuesday, Al-Ahmad said that Egypt asked both Hamas and Fatah to reply to its proposal with a simple “yes” or “no” by Thursday.