Sources: Fatah turns down Hamas reconciliation proposal

Fatah has turned down a reconciliation proposal by Hamas, Arab diplomatic sources say. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that senior Hamas officials had informed him that the group was willing to sign a reconciliation deal based on the Egyptian proposal presented to the two sides in October.

Abbas did not give further details, but Arab diplomatic sources said Hamas had planned for the agreement to be signed in Damascus.

The request by Hamas is an effort to undermine the status of Egypt, with whom Hamas has been sparring, while crediting Syria and indirectly Iran, both rivals of the Egyptians.

Another proposal, another attempt

Another proposal, which was thought to be another attempt by Hamas to draw out the process, was that Abbas would meet with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal in Damascus, where they would sign the Egyptian deal.

After the signing, a reconciliation ceremony would then take place in Cairo.

Under the Egyptian proposal, a supervisory committee under Abbas would manage the Gaza Strip and its reconstruction in parallel with a Hamas government, until presidential and parliamentary elections are held on June 28.

However, the friction between Fatah and Hamas continues.

Over the weekend Fatah celebrated the anniversary of its founding, but Hamas banned demonstrations in an effort to prevent such commemorations in the Gaza Strip.

Roadblocks were set up in Gaza to prevent Fatah supporters from moving around, and Hamas gunmen wounded two Fatah backers.

Thirty Fatah activists were arrested, and the Hamas police force raided dozens of homes that dared to fly the Fatah flag.