Palestinians keep wary eye on reconciliation agreement
Several Palestinian groups have taken to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza to pressure Hamas and Fatah to swiftly implement the recent reconciliation agreement in light of past failures.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian street is witnessing an escalating popular and trade union movement with the aim of exerting pressure on both sides of the Palestinian division — Fatah and Hamas — to speed up the implementation of the agreement reached in Cairo on Oct. 12 in anticipation of its failure. Previous agreements have failed after their implementation stalled and the parties refused to make concessions.
The popular and trade union events — in which hundreds of Palestinians participated in different areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip — began with the dialogue sessions that started in Cairo at the end of September. The organizers of these events confirmed in separate statements to Al-Monitor that they will resume their activities in the coming days to press for the speedy implementation of the agreement.
On Oct. 10, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) erected a tent in support of Palestinian reconciliation efforts, as participants hoped that the latest round of negotiations in Cairo, which subsequently culminated in an agreement, would be different from previous rounds of failed negotiations.
Ahmed Tannani, head of the PFLP’s Youth Movement, told Al-Monitor, “We took part in this tent and other events to pressure both sides of the Palestinian division … into reaching a final and irreversible agreement. [We seek] to prevent scenarios of previous agreements from rolling out and to allow Palestinian factions to devote themselves to confronting the Israeli occupation instead of getting carried away by internal differences.”
