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Abbas goes big with Hamas deal; the Temple Mount fault line

PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas plays the Hamas card; watch out for the "Hebronization" of the Temple Mount; Al-Monitor launches Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish newsletters.
Palestinians wave national flags as they celebrate after an announcement of a reconciliation agreement in Gaza City April 23, 2014. The Gaza-based Islamist group Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed on Wednesday to implement a unity pact, both sides announced in a joint news conference. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3MBX7

On April 23, Fatah and Hamas signed the Palestinian National Reconciliation Agreement, which implements two previous agreements signed in Doha (February 2012) and Cairo (May 2011).

The agreement calls for an interim government to be formed in five weeks consisting of political independents (aligned with neither Hamas not Fatah), followed by executive and legislative elections in six months. 

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