Hamas, Fatah ignore elephant in the room, for now
Egypt believes that building trust between Hamas and Fatah should precede clarifying the remaining difficult issues between them, such as what to do about Hamas’ military wing.
Only two days were needed for Fatah and Hamas to agree to a framework for reconciliation and turn over a new leaf. According to the agreement reached in Cairo on Oct. 12, administrative authorities will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA); Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ people will oversee the crossings between Gaza and Israel; the Palestinian Presidential Guard will be posted at the Rafah crossing at the Egypt-Gaza border and European agents will ensure weapons are not smuggled into Gaza.
In 48 hours, the two sides appear to have succeeded in skipping over all of the obstacles and bridging all of the rifts, after agreeing not to discuss the most essential issue, the root of the problem, the main difference that has stood between them for more than 10 years: control over Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
