France Press

DOHA: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to head an interim consensus government under a deal signed with Hamas Monday, ending a long-running disagreement over the post that stalled Palestinian reconciliation.
The accord signed in Qatar was welcomed by officials from both rival Palestinian movements Hamas and Fatah, but Israel warned Abbas to choose between reconciliation with Hamas and making peace with the Jewish state.

The full lineup of the interim national consensus government, which will supervise the run-up to long-delayed presidential and legislative elections, is to be announced in Cairo next week at a meeting of all the Palestinian factions.

The deal was sealed by Fatah head Abbas and Khaled Meshaal, leader of the Islamist movement Hamas, at a ceremony in Doha in the presence of emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
The so-called “Doha Declaration” is the latest attempt by the rival movements to implement a reconciliation deal signed last April.

The declaration calls for a government of “independent technocrats” to oversee reconstruction efforts in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and to “facilitate the implementation of presidential and parliamentary elections.”
Speaking to reporters after signing the declaration, Abbas said his Fatah movement “did not sign this agreement for show ... but because we plan to implement it.”

“Reconciliation is in the Palestinian and Arab national interest,” he said, pledging to implement all terms of the agreement “as fast as possible.”
Meshaal said the two factions were “very serious about closing the chapter of division and strengthening” their national unity.
The Palestinians now need to “devote all our power to confronting the occupying enemy,” he said in a reference to Israel.

A senior Fatah official told AFP the new government would be announced in Cairo on Feb. 18 at a meeting between the Palestine Liberation Organization leadership and all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
“On the 18th of this month in Cairo, there will be a final declaration on the formation of the new government to be headed by president Mahmoud Abbas,” Azzam al-Ahmad said.

Monday’s deal comes after months of deadlock over the formation of an interim government, with Abbas reportedly insistent that his current Prime Minister Salam Fayyad keep the top post, despite fierce Hamas opposition.
After the announcement, both Fayyad and the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, welcomed the agreement.

“This achievement is a response to our people’s aspirations and ambition to reunify the homeland and its institutions,” Fayyad said in a statement.
Haniyeh “blessed the declaration and confirmed that his government will apply it,” a statement said.