Leaders from Hamas and Fatah have reached an agreement which would remove Hamas' controversial new militia from populated areas of the Gaza Strip. Eventually, the Hamas militia will be incorporated into the Palestinian Authority's security services which are presently controlled by Fatah.
'They are going to be in places away from the public. They are not going to be visible to people,' Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the Associated Press.
A similar agreement was reached last week but within hours after the deal was reached, the Hamas militia was back on the streets and confrontations between the militia and Fatah-backed security forces continued. A total of 16 people have been killed in clashes between the two groups, many of them bystanders.
Today's agreement was reached after negotiations between the two factions, mediated by Egyptian officials. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh took part in the negotiations according to a high ranking Hamas official.
Leaders of Abbas' Fatah Party were also pleased about the agreement. 'In this meeting, we agreed to remove all things that can lead to tensions in the Palestinian streets,' said Abdel Hakim Awad, a Fatah spokesman.
The talks did not focus on the referendum Abbas wants to bring before the Palestinian people which would tacitly endorse a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Negotiations are continuing on this matter. Thus far, Hamas has rejected the proposal even though it was jointly drafted by Hamas and Fatah members serving time in Israeli prisons for planning or taking part in deadly terrorist attacks.
Abbas extended a deadline for Hamas to endorse the deal to this coming Saturday. If Hamas does not agree to the draft by then, Abbas said he would place the proposal on a referendum and have the people vote on it directly.
