Hamas's Musa Abu Marzouk and Fatah's Azzam Al-Ahmad
Photo: AFP
Reconcilation conference reportedly to take place in Switzerland on June 30
Hamas sources say Swiss Foreign Ministry officials recently visited Gaza and Doha to prepare for conference; EU, Quartet, Egypt, China, and other powers will attend conference; US will be absent, but says it does not oppose its taking place.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry will host a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation conference on June 30 in Geneva, according to London's Al-Hayat newspaper. Representatives from the Quartet, the EU, Sweden, Norway, China, Russia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia also plan to attend the conference.
Hamas sources told Al-Hayat that Swiss Foreign Ministry officials recently visited Gaza and Doha to prepare for the reconciliation conference in Geneva. The officials also said that Hamas is prepared to implement the Cairo Agreement, a 2014 Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement, and stressed that any agreement must include a resolution of the Gaza employees' crisis.
Hamas and Fatah officials in Gaza (Photo: AFP)
Regarding the borders of a future Palestinian state, Hamas officials said to Al-Hayat, "We told the Swiss diplomats that Hamas supports the establishment of a Palestinian state on 1967 borders."
Switzerland likely will present international mechanisms to support the reconciliation process, including additional aid for the Palestinian government for public employees' salaries and Gaza reconstruction.
Sources told Al-Hayat that the US will not participate in conference, but also does not oppose its taking place.
Hamas and Fatah have reached many reconciliation agreements in the past including the Mecca Agreement in 2007, the Sana'a Declaration in 2008, the Cairo Agreement in 2011, the Doha Agreement in February 2012, the Cairo Accord in May 2012, and the Cairo Agreement II in 2014. But none of these agreements have been implemented.
Moreover, the Geneva conference will take place weeks after a group of foreign ministers meet in Paris in an attempt to renew the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
