On Thursday, October 12, in Cairo, an agreement was signed between representatives of Fatah and Hamas to establish a government of national unity in the Gaza Strip.
As part of the agreement, the leadership of Hamas undertakes to transfer the administration of the sector to the government of national unity by December 1.
Also, by December 1, Hamas undertakes to transfer control over border crossings in the Gaza Strip to Fatah. We are talking about the Erez and Kerem Shalom checkpoints on the border with Israel and the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt. It is reported that the border crossings will be controlled by the «presidential guard» Mahmoud Abbas.
In addition, about 3,000 Palestinian police officers will serve in the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, the issues of military control over the Gaza Strip and the activities of the Isaddin al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’s militant wing) have not yet been discussed. The Egyptians, who took on the role of mediators in the negotiations, warned Fatah about this a week ago .
The issue of exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas was also not discussed.
On November 14, another meeting is to be held in Cairo between representatives of Fatah and Hamas. At this meeting, the discussion of the details of the agreement will be continued.
As previously reported, the chairman of the Palestinian administration and leader of the Fatah party Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Thursday, October 12, announced the achievement of a «final agreement» with Hamas and «overcoming the Palestinian split.» Abbas thanked Cairo for helping organize the talks.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying that any agreement between Fatah and Hamas must include guarantees for the implementation of international agreements, the recognition of Israel and the disarmament of Hamas.
