GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On Nov. 27, the two rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas delayed to Dec. 10 the final transfer of power over the Gaza Strip from Hamas to the Palestinian Authority (PA) — which was set for Dec. 1 under the reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo Oct. 12. This comes as Fatah argued that Hamas is not empowering the national consensus government from taking over its missions in the enclave.
Moreover, the Palestinian reconciliation round of talks held in Cairo Nov. 21 had also failed to resolve important points of disagreement, which include the reform of the PLO.
Palestinian factions have been calling on Fatah to overcome all organizational and political disputes in the Palestinian arena and to reform and rehabilitate the PLO on a common democratic basis, under a comprehensive Palestinian political framework.
Ever since its establishment on May 28, 1964, the PLO has been facing numerous stumbling blocks amid a state of Palestinian disintegration and the lack of national political partnership, in addition to the division between the West Bank and Gaza and the feud among Fatah’s ranks that further crippled the PLO. Fatah’s popular base seems to be torn between those who support President Mahmoud Abbas and those loyal to dismissed Fatah-leader Mohammed Dahlan.
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