July 19, 2018•Update: July 20, 2018
By Nour Abu Aisha
GAZA CITY, Palestine
Anadolu Agency has obtained a copy of an Egyptian proposal for achieving reconciliation between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
In a Thursday phone call, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau told Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel that Hamas had agreed to Cairo’s proposal.
The content of the four-stage, 10-article proposal is as follows:
First stage
According to the proposal, the first stage is meant to be implemented within one week.
The first article calls for “the immediate end of all measures taken against Gaza, including the full restoration of salaries of employees [of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza]; payment of the operational budgets of all government ministries; and the provision of fuel for [Gaza’s] power plant without the imposition of taxes”.
The second article calls for “government ministers to return to their ministries according to the current structure without making any changes until the implementation of the administrative/legal committee’s decision”.
The third article calls for holding “consultations with a view to forming a national unity government within a period of five weeks”.
Second stage
The four articles of the second stage should be implemented within three weeks, according to the proposal.
The first article states that “the administrative/legal committee should deliver the results of its work to the factions [i.e., Hamas and Fatah] and the government should begin implementing them”.
The second article calls for the “implementation of a salaries policy for all [Palestinian Authority] employees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip”.
According to the third article, Hamas must recognize “the [tax] collection of the Palestinian government, including the deduction of a part of these taxes to pay the salaries of [Hamas-appointed] security personnel who are not covered by the procedures of the administrative/legal committee until the security committee convenes and decides on their status”.
The fourth article calls for the “removal of all obstacles at Gaza’s border crossings with Egypt and Israel while maintaining adequate security”.
Third stage
The two articles of the third stage are to be implemented within a period of three weeks to one month.
The first article calls for “meetings between the relevant security committees in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to discuss security and establish suitable mechanisms for their implementation under Egyptian supervision”.
The second article calls for “a meeting between the judiciary and land committees, each of which shall be formed by representatives of the competent authorities in the West Bank and Gaza under Egyptian supervision with a view to unifying judicial and land institutions”.
Fourth stage
The fourth and final stage consists of only one article to be implemented over a three-day period.
This article calls for “convening a meeting of a committee devoted to the development and activation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to be held in Egyptian capital Cairo with a view to establishing mechanisms for implementing the 2011 agreement on the national council, elections and the legislative council, community reconciliation and public freedoms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip”.
On Sunday, a Palestinian source told Anadolu Agency that Hamas had agreed to the Egyptian proposal. On Wednesday, Fatah announced that it would “study” Egypt’s recommendations.
Palestine’s political scene has remained deeply polarized since mid-2007, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip after sweeping legislative elections one year earlier.
Fatah, meanwhile, has retained partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
