GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Within the span of some 12 hours on Aug. 3, Hamas in Gaza and the Patriots to End the Split and Restore the National Unity in the West Bank independently launched two initiatives to end the political and administrative division between Gaza and the West Bank resulting from the Hamas-Fatah feud.

Salah al-Bardawil from Hamas’ political bureau announced his movement's initiative in a press statement. The proposal includes seven key points, most notably the movement’s readiness to dissolve the administrative committee, set up in March by Hamas to manage Gaza affairs after the movement concluded that the government of national unity would not take responsibility for Gaza's administration. Hamas also stressed the need for President Mahmoud Abbas to reverse measures imposed against Gaza since mid-April to force the movement to dissolve the committee. Abbas ordered cuts in electricity being supplied to Gaza by Israel, forced early retirement of government employees in Gaza, implemented cuts in social allowances and other measures.

Hamas wants the consensus government agreed to in 2014 to fulfill its obligations toward Gaza and for all the Palestinian factions, not just Fatah and itself, to come together to reach agreement on forming a true government of national unity. It also called for reconvening the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), which has been suspended since 2007 due to the political division. In addition, the initiative renewed a call to prepare for legislative, presidential and Palestinian National Council (PNC) elections and to hold a meeting of the Temporary Leadership Framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) — established in 2011 by the 2005 Cairo agreement, but never activated — so all the factions, including Hamas, can participate in making decisions on such issues as political negotiations and security cooperation with Israel.

A few hours after Bardawil's announcement, the Patriots to End the Split launched its own initiative, the Jerusalem Appeal, at a press conference in Ramallah. The group was formed in 2016 by independent Palestinians as well as some from civil society and women's institutions to pressure Hamas and Fatah into reconciling. Some 200 figures signed its proposal, including factional leaders from the Palestinian People's Party, the Palestinian National Initiative, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, members of the PLC (including from Hamas and Fatah), and civil society and women's organizations.