GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In late November, Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee and the head of Fatah’s delegation at the inter-Palestinian talks, pointed an accusing finger at Iran and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, blaming them for undermining the reconciliation. The Palestinian factions — the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian People’s Party — rejected the accusations, which prompted a number of Fatah leaders to issue media statements Dec. 2 to ease the tension between Fatah and the Islamic Jihad sparked by Ahmad’s remarks.

In a television interview on An-Najah channel Nov. 30, Ahmad said, “Some of the Islamic Jihad leaders sought to undermine the Fatah-Hamas Palestinian reconciliation. … All factions coming from Gaza stressed during the talks in Cairo that there are obstacles to empowering the government, except for the Islamic Jihad delegation, because it views the reconciliation negatively.”

Islamic Jihad leader Ahmad al-Mudallal told Al-Monitor that the accusations are invalid and unfounded. He said that the reason behind Ahmad’s accusations is the Islamic Jihad’s explicit demand in the Nov. 22 Cairo talks that Fatah should pressure President Mahmoud Abbas to immediately lift the sanctions on the Gaza Strip.

He added that the factions — a total of nine Palestinian factions participating in the talks — expressed in a joint statement their rejection that the Rafah crossing be operated under the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, which allows Israel to monitor passengers on both sides of the crossing.