Hamas, Fatah agree joint committee to run post-war Gaza

CAIRO: Palestinian movement Hamas and Palestine president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party have agreed to create a committee to jointly run post-war Gaza, negotiators from both sides said Tuesday.

Under the plan, which needs Abbas’s approval, the committee would be composed of 10 to 15 non-partisan figures with authority on matters related to the economy, education, health, humanitarian aid and reconstruction, according to a draft of the proposal seen by AFP.

Following talks in Cairo brokered by Egypt, the two rival factions agreed the committee would administer the Palestinian side of the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt — the territory’s only crossing not shared with Israel.

Fatah’s delegation, led by central party committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, would return on Tuesday to Ramallah to seek Abbas’s final approval, negotiators from both sides told AFP.

The Hamas delegation was headed by politburo member Khalil al-Hayya.

The initiative comes at a time of renewed diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza war, which was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

These efforts, led by the United States together with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, come nearly a week after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into force in Lebanon.

Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas’s resounding victory in a 2006 election.

As US President Joe Biden’s administration prepares to hand over power in January to president-elect Donald Trump, Palestinians face intense US pressure to ensure Hamas will have no role in Gaza once the war ends.

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu government has made Hamas’s destruction in Gaza one of its main war objectives.

It also has repeatedly expressed strong opposition to the Palestinian Authority playing any role in the Gaza Strip after the war.