Does Hamas-Fatah reconciliation spell end for peace talks?
The speaker of the Palestinian National Council, Salim Zannoun, does not expect anything worthwhile to come from further talks with Israel.
As the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) convenes in Ramallah on April 26, its mission — to determine the future of peace talks and elect a president and parliament — is easier now that the PLO and Hamas have agreed to implement their reconciliation agreements.
Presidential and parliamentary elections (both inside and outside Palestine) are now scheduled six months after the creation of a unity government. President Mahmoud Abbas has been authorized to consult on the creation of a government of experts and announce the date for general elections. The April 23 agreement in Gaza appears, on paper, to be a total Hamas capitulation to the PLO and Abbas.
The PCC now faces one challenge, the peace talks. It's a foregone conclusion that the Palestinian-Israeli talks will not be resumed when the April 29 cut-off date arrives.
Before the reconciliation agreement was announced, Salim Zannoun, the speaker of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), stated that he didn't believe continuing the talks would be productive. In an exclusive interview April 22 with Al-Monitor, Zannoun described his view of the peace talks as “very pessimistic.” The speaker noted that he doesn't expect "anything worthwhile" to come to the Palestinian people out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
