Abbas: Fatah will continue to handle Mideast peace talks

Hamas says it won't recognize Israel, and no peace negotiations are possible under their agenda, which from Iran, via Syria and an new Islamist-leaning Egypt, are offering Palestinians who, in the last yard before statehood, never fail to miss and opportunity. My G'd, 130 or 140 countries were supporting their bid for statehood regardless of negotiations with Israel. even veto-holding members were ready to grant it statehood. And then the next day after talk about how negotiations are preferable, suddenly a madness possesses Abbas, Fayyad & co. and they commit suicide by signing the going to bed with Hamas, Syria & Iran. And that, even when Assad's regime is dangerously convulsed. Palestine committed suicide. Only a shrink can explain this, which escapes any lucid political analysis.

the views expressed by fatah and hamas are incompatible. it is hard to imagine what a mutant state would be like. will the new palestine rocket israsel, then whine when it's forces are attacked? will christians and women be suppressed like they are in gaza? will fatah and hamas resolve internal disputes by torture as they do now? stay tuned for this surreal drama in political posing.

EREKAT WINDOW{SS}DRES_SHOWING his own deal with LIKUD and THIS went through same old channel: LIKUD! AS usual went through then&now

The time is now for Palestinian unity. One people, one nation. Peace for the Palestinian people. Of course, all of this makes Israel and the Israelites very, very nervous, it's so contrary to their warmongering nature. Besides, they stand to lose not only the sympathy and the victim status but all the cash that comes from the coffers of the nations of the world being blackmailed under the guise of "Israel's security"

EREKAT showing his deal: with the Jewish Israel he likes!

Really now. Is a fatah/Hamas government any worse than a Likud/Israel Beitanu government? Look who is calling the kettle black.

Be carefull be carefull and one's again be carefull Israël, when the beelzebuud preach peace, don't forget, a fox never losses his behavior, neither them.

Hamas and Fatah are mortal ennemies. They captured, tortured, and killed each other. Now they are declaring peace. A ridiculous shotgun marriage, that will backfire in violence amongst themselves. Yes, they should make up, but not in just a document. When Hamas stops rocketting, returns shallit, stops oppresing free speech, and behaves like a modern nation and joins with its west bank brothers , it might make sense. til then, it is pure chicanery.

For Fatah and Hamas and all Palestinians to come together and show Israel for what it is really is. The time is now. End the occupation. Free Palestine!

Palestinians have the same right to have their own State too. Enough is enough!. Live and Let Live.

Netanyahu isn't going to talk peace with the Palestinians.

Palestinians Moving Forward Wisely Give the Palestinians a fair state now. Kosovo, East Timore, Montenigro, South Sudanese have all become independent, and with far less international recognition, so why not Palestine?

Who is afraid of getting annexed, then Israel will be a Muslim majority nation, Hhaaaaaa The end of the story,Israel.

That would be a much better idea than trying to justify the unjustifiable. Any PR pro will tell you that you can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

that war seems the only solution.

and who told him,israel wants peace?

Only in the disfunctional ME can we have a situation where Israel is supposed to negotiate in good faith with a government made up of a faction which doesn't recognize it and is determined to destroy it. I have little use for Bibi and his government but this crosses the Red line....Bibi should tell Abbas to take a hike.

That's not a good indication of "unity"; the two sides are saying completely different things about the same "agreement". Abbas is wise to make this statement though, since he was winning the political stalemate on negotiations vs. settlement against Netanyahu. We all know there's not going to be negotiations in the foreseeable future, so there's no reason for Hamas to declare their refusal. Hamas' statement only bolsters the Israeli position -- the Palestinians aren't serious about negotiating for peace. Still, it's too early to determine where things are going to go vis a vis "unity". We'll have to wait and see how the next week or two unfold. Let's not over-react.

Why just fatah if that's a UNITY cabinet????

I see the various parties are throwing up blockades in the path. No doubt..come september tanks will (again) be rumbling into west bank and Gaza to prevent any statehood coming about. Its all so predictable. New Ideas please..the old stuff is YAWN so Israeli standard from the book of how to build a blockade.

Bottom Line: independent Hamas-PLO state is off the table, unilateral declaration to UN in September is off the table, PLO is out of the "peace process", Abbas is out as "negotiator", all Israeli cooperation with PA will stop, all US aid will stop, PLO will be booted from its US offices, what EU says or does (as usual) is irrelevant (look at their confused, clumsy fuddling with 8th-rate power Libya!) - Ashton can continue to "study" what it all means.

Bottom Line: independent Hamas-PLO state is off the table, unilateral declaration to UN in September is off the table, PLO is out of the "peace process", Abbas is out as "negotiator", all Israeli cooperation with PA will stop, all US aid will stop, PLO will be booted from its US offices, what EU says or does (as usual) is irrelevant (look at their confused, clumsy fuddling with 8th-rate power Libya!) - Ashton can continue to "study" what it all means.

Unity between Palestinian fractions is essential for durable peace with Israel. Seen in the context of the 'arab-spring' it is of utter importance. In fact, it should be a day of celebration for everyone living in or just outside Israels borders.

this does nothing to bring the two parties closer together, in their approach to Israel, and does nothing to bring their 'government' closer to a position israel can live with.

For all of those who are worried about these developments. Don't be. Unfortunately the signs are already on the wall that Abbas and Hamas are already viewing their accord thru different lenses. It won't be long before the whole thing breaks down. Of course, the only question will be, does the breakdown happen before or after Hamas gains control of the West Bank. What a tangled web we weave....

Now that Fatah has reconciled itself with Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, the EU and US can stop deluding themselves, deceiving us, and wasting money that is badly needed, at home. In truth, Fatah should never have been supported, since Fatah and Hamas are two sides of the same coin. It is just that Fatah were prepared to play along, for a hundreds-of-billions of Dollars and €uros line of Danegeld.

Abbas said the Palestine Liberation Organisation which he heads and to which Hamas does not belong, would still be responsible for "handling politics, negotiations". What a load of Hog Wash. Within six months Mahmoud Abbas will be history.

J love Israel !!!

Abbas says the PA will take ultimate authority in peace negotions with Israel. Hamas says the new interim government will not hold negotiations with Israel. What has occured here is that the Palestinian leadership, if one could call it leadership, has destroyed any possibility of establishing an independent state. The UN began looking favorably towards the PA. But Hamas, which is now part of the mix as never before, is not looked upon favorably except by countries like Iran and Venzuela. This morning, the EU is stating that it needs to look deeply into this new PA-Hamas marriage pact. What they will discover is the identical mix of ingredients that caused the last two "pacts" to fail. And the EU and UN will never demand that Israel deal-in-trust with Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel. Back to the drawing board ???

well, the old man has just gone mad - only a few steps and months away from a plaestinian state, he forms a coalition with hamas and crushes all possibilities for europe & co. to accept such a government with it's aims of establishing a shariah-state, force all women under burkas and destroy israel. by the way, how naive to believe that hamas won't repeat it's coup d'etat but this time they'll get much more. Remembers me of Arrafat, when Barak offered him exactly what they demand today (Westbanl + East Jerusalem) and he rejected and pushed towards the second Intifada. Headshot.

I dont think so.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City on March 18, 2007. Photo by: AP

Abbas fails all those who wish to have a leadership which will lead to less death and more peace....

Fatah already announced yesterday that they too are not interested in peace talks. Time for Israel to unilaterally declare for Palestine, unilaterally define and establish secure borders, cease all infrastructure support and terminate all PA work permits. Enjoy your independent Islamist state

He had Bibi against the wall. Now he threw him a life jacket. Even the French aren't going to support a Hamas state in the Security Counsel much less the US.

Hamas wants militant struggle in order to liberate the area between the river and the sea. And now Abbas will adopt this policy? Good luck. As I have said many many times - the PA diplomatic september plan is only going to complicate things, and now this fake reconciliation-spectacle will force Moscow, Brussels and Washington to step in and support Israel against the aggression from Hamas and Fatah. Bibi is happy. He was just saved by Abbas and Mashaal.

Why doesn't he get back to something he has lots of experience doing and is better qualified for --writing Holocaust denial papers?

Just as the Arabs say one thing for internal consumption in Arabic and something very different for PR in English, they now speak in two voices, good cop / bad cop style. Abas is the honey, Hamas is the sting

So Fatah can attempt to gain Israeli concessions while Hamas still calls for the destruction of Israel? Then, when missiles are launched, Fatah can blame it on their 'military wing;'? Why are the inmates running the asylum?