Hamas and Fatah close in on reconciliation deal

Hamas and Fatah, bitter rivals who violently split more than two years ago, appear close to a reconciliation deal that could lead to a Palestinian unity government. That would allow Palestinians to present a more unified position in peace talks with Israel, if negotiations aren't run aground by the Israeli government's vow not to talk to Hamas and Hamas's refusal to make a permanent peace with the Jewish state.

Top Hamas official Khaled Mashal told journalists in Cairo on Monday that the Islamist organization agreed "in principle" to an Egyptian proposal that reportedly calls for holding elections in the first half of next year and deploying a joint Fatah-Hamas security force in Gaza. Fatah agreed to the plan a month ago.

The Egyptians "will work on laying down a final draft for the reconciliation project in the coming few days," added Mr. Meshal, the movement's Damascus-based chief, whose statement seemed to indicate a deal was imminent.

But skeptics in both the West Bank and Gaza say that some aspects of the divide still feel insurmountable, and that implementation of such a deal is hard to fathom. Hamas members seek a bigger role in the West Bank, including "integration" into the West Bank security apparatus, which Fatah is unlikely to accept. And given their waning popularity in Gaza, they are unlikely to hold elections in the first half of 2010, says Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza.

"[Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas] said yes, Hamas said yes, but when it comes to implementation, I think both Hamas and Fatah will have excuses to run away from this agreement," he says. "We're still far away from ending the political divide."

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Perfect Result: Hamas destroys Al-Qaida faction - Update 1

Jund Ansar Allah group was armed by Fatah operatives, Hamas claims

Jund Ansar Allah is one of several tiny radical Islamist groups that have popped up in the Gaza Strip in the past few years. These groups have openly challenged the Hamas government on the grounds that it has not imposed Islamic law (Shari'a).

The radical groups want to see a regime similar to the one in Sudan and other Islamic countries, where thieves have their arms amputated and those found guilty of adultery are stoned to death. Some have claimed that these groups are either linked to or inspired by al-Qaida, but so far there is no evidence to back up their claim. Hamas officials, however, say that many of the leaders and members of these groups were in fact affiliated with the former Fatah-controlled security forces or with militias belonging to Fatah in the Gaza Strip.

A senior Hamas official told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend that Jund Ansar Allah received its weapons from former Fatah policemen and security officials in the southern Gaza Strip. The official said he did not rule out the possibility that Fatah leaders in the West Bank were trying to use radical Islamic groups to undermine the Hamas government.

This was not the first time that an extremist group has engaged in an armed confrontation with Hamas. In the past, Hamas managed to crush other groups such as Ansar Bet al-Maqdes, Tawheed and Jihad, Army of Islam and Jund Muhammad.

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