Reconciliation committee cancels Gaza meeting

A committee overseeing national reconciliation has canceled a meeting scheduled to be held Saturday in Gaza City, committee member Hani Abu Arma said Friday. Abu Amra, a representative of the Palestinian Arab Front, told Ma'an the meeting was canceled for "technical reasons." He said he hoped a new date for the meeting would be arranged on Friday evening. Committee members include representatives of Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Arab Liberation Front and the Palestine Democratic Union. Officials have been working on various files of the reconciliation agreement, including the release of political detainees held in West Bank and Gaza jails, and the reopening of institutions closed because of the rivalry between Hamas and Fatah, Abu Amra said. The committee has met twice in the West Bank during the last week, he added. Fatah leader and President Mahmoud Abbas signed a landmark reconciliation agreement with Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal in Cairo in May, to end years of hostility. In 2007, fighting between the parties reached near civil war and led to the division of the West Bank and Gaza under separate governments. The parties agreed in May to form a unity government, but the administration has yet to be appointed and the leaders met again in Cairo on Nov. 24 for further talks. After the November meeting, Abbas said all differences had been resolved and pledged that results would be seen on the ground "in the coming days and weeks." Meanwhile, Mashaal said: "Everyone should be confident and wait for developments on the ground, and not just words." Several weeks later, officials from both parties said reconciliation remained elusive. On Dec. 12 Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Fatah's continued detention of Hamas affiliates threatened the accord, adding that committees formed to implement the unity deal had made little progress. His frustrations were echoed by Fatah officials, who told Ma'an the reconciliation agreement had failed to yield results. On Saturday Nablus billionaire Munib al-Masri, who was involved in mediation efforts, told reporters in Gaza City that all political detainees would be freed by the end of the year. But over the next two days some 50 Fatah affiliates were summoned by Hamas security forces in Gaza, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said. PCHR accused the Hamas administration of staging a "campaign of summons and arrests" targeting Fatah's former security officers in the Gaza Strip, some of whom reported being subject to torture. On Tuesday, Fatah said Hamas had banned celebrations in Gaza of the party's upcoming 47th anniversary. Israel is strongly opposed to Palestinian unity, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Abbas must choose either peace with Hamas or peace with Israel. The Israeli premier reiterated Sunday that he would not negotiate with a united Palestinian government. There have been no peace talks between Israel and the PLO since Netanyahu refused to extend a partial freeze on illegal settlement building in September 2010.