The Palestinian Authority is “dragging its feet” on reconciliation due to US President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit in March, senior Hamas leader and Gaza parliamentarian Salah Bardawil told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview. Bardawil touched on this along with the latest disputes between Hamas and Fatah and said that little progress is expected until after the Obama trip. 

The Hamas leader warned that Obama’s visit to al-Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third holiest site — if accompanied by Israeli security forces will have “catastrophic ramifications on the current political situation.” Bardawil predicted that a third intifada is on the horizon and gave his support to current protests against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. He also spoke of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and relations with Iran, which he claimed have not soured despite the fallout with Syria.

Al-Monitor: What are the latest developments on the ground regarding the Palestinian reconciliation process?

Bardawil: Palestinian reconciliation is under way and is no longer in the discussion phase. All of the conditions from previous discussions have been duly met. The last meeting in Cairo saw the launch of the implementation phase of reconciliation. However, from the outset of the Cairo discussions, it became apparent that US President Barack Obama's visit to the region placed the Palestinian Authority in an embarrassing conundrum regarding the implementation of these conditions. President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas feels that his meeting with the US president will be strained by the fact that he is also sitting at the table with Hamas, whom the United States refuses to recognize. At President Abbas’ request, the PA has delayed implementation by dragging their feet or finding excuses. However, the Egyptians intervened and pressured them to begin setting parameters for implementation and to set dates so that the government is formed and elections are held in the same time frame so that public freedoms can be respected.