PA to release Hamas prisoners in unity gesture

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday ordered his security forces to free all Hamas members imprisoned in PA jails, unless they are suspected of security offenses against the PA or are deemed a security risk.

The gesture was announced by Azzam al-Ahmed, the head of Fatah's parliamentary faction, in advance of planned reconciliation talks between Abbas' Fatah movement and its Islamist rival, Hamas.

Palestinian sources estimated that the order would result in about 200 of the 720 jailed Hamas members being released over the next few days.

The reconciliation talks are due to open in Cairo in another four days. Egypt, which is sponsoring the talks, hopes they will produce a draft power-sharing agreement that would be signed by Hamas, Fatah and all the smaller Palestinian factions at a ceremony in Cairo on July 7.

Egypt's proposal calls for a special committee, comprised of representatives of all Palestinian factions, that would manage day-to-day affairs in the Gaza Strip, which is currently under Hamas' exclusive rule. This committee would oversee the Strip's reconstruction following Israel's offensive there earlier this year, manage the international funds donated for this purpose, and operate a joint Hamas-Fatah security force that would maintain law and order in Gaza. The committee would be under Abbas' supervision, rather than having the status of an independent body.

In the West Bank, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Fatah government would continue to serve until January 2010, when the PA would hold both parliamentary and presidential elections.

PA security forces, assisted by security personnel from Arab states, would operate the Gaza side of the Strip's border crossings into Israel and Egypt. Cairo is seeking an Israeli pledge to reopen its border with Gaza if the proposed committee indeed replaces the Hamas government in Gaza.

However, it is still not clear whether Hamas will accept the Egyptian proposal. Fatah sources said the Islamic organization's political leadership in Gaza is in favor, but its military wing is opposed, because this would mean the end of its rule in the Strip.

Hamas' political leadership in Damascus also objects to the proposal, but several Palestinian sources said the recent rapprochement between Abbas and Syrian President Bashar Assad could lead to Syrian pressure on it to give in.

Damascus believes that if Syria succeeds in wringing concessions from Hamas, the United States will reward it with a major gesture, such as lifting sanctions.

U.S. President Barack Obama realizes that unless Hamas and Fatah stop fighting among themselves, an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is unlikely. Syria believes Obama would be willing to reward it for facilitating a power-sharing deal, the sources explained.

On the other hand, Hamas-Fatah unity would undermine security cooperation between Israel and the PA, since the PA would no longer be able to arrest Hamas members or shut down Hamas charities. That might lead to Israel tightening restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank.

Fayyad said yesterday that he wants to see a Palestinian state within two years. Speaking at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, outside Jerusalem, he said this was "feasible" if the Palestinians "roll up their sleeves" and establish the institutions necessary for statehood.

Fayyad lambasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech last week, saying Netanyahu had "reduced the meaning of the two-state solution," and reiterated the PA's refusal to resume negotiations with Israel unless Israel freezes settlement construction.