RAMALLAH, West Bank — Consultations over the new government formation have revealed the depth of the crisis and division between the Fatah and Hamas movements. As Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tasked Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad on June 23 with communicating and consulting with the Palestinian factions to form a government, controversial issues that all parties had previously tried to overcome have resurfaced. While Ahmad accused Hamas of causing the consultations and potential consensus to fail, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri replied that “Fatah seeks to tailor the government as per its own preferences.”

After failing to reach common ground, Abbas tasked Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in July with bringing about minor changes to his government instead of forming a new government. This has angered Hamas, which considered it a coup against the reconciliation, Zahri said.

Hamas had initially agreed in July to take part in the government, yet it is now imposing conditions. Most important are those mentioned in its June 26 statement, namely “calling on the temporary leadership body [of the PLO] to follow up on all reconciliation issues, [limiting] the government that will be formed to [carry out] tasks, without a political program, the government winning the Palestinian Legislative Council’s trust before it embarks on its tasks, and reaching a solution to the [Hamas-appointed] employee problem immediately and without preconditions.”

Hassan Khreisheh, a member of the Legislative Council that has been obstructed as a result of the Fatah-Hamas division in 2007, said, “The dispute is political and is not on the government structure or tasks, as rumored.” He added, “There is a lack of trust between the parties, which is the basis of this conflict.”