Rival Palestinian Factions Reach Landmark Reconciliation Pact

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

CAIRO -- Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas on Wednesday proclaimed a landmark, Egyptian-mediated reconciliation pact aimed at ending their bitter four-year rift. The Palestinian president seized the occasion to deliver a scathing criticism of Israel, saying he would not succumb to its blackmail over the future of Mideast peacemaking.

"We forever turn the black page of division," the Western-backed Mahmoud Abbas said at the declaration ceremony in the Egyptian capital Cairo, promising to "soon" visit Hamas-held Gaza Strip.

The pact, long in the making, provides for the creation of a joint caretaker Palestinian government ahead of national elections next year but leaves key issues unresolved, such as who will control the Palestinian security forces, and makes no mention of relations with Israel.

Israel had denounced the pact in advance of the Cairo ceremony because of the militant Hamas' long history of deadly attacks against Israeli targets. It also equated the deal with a renunciation of peacemaking.

Like the U.S. and the European Union, Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization and says it will not negotiate with a future Palestinian government that includes the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group.

Abbas rejected Israel's opposition to the pact, saying the reconciliation with the militant Islamic group was an internal Palestinian affair.

"They are our brothers and family. We may differ, and we often do, but we still arrive at a minimum level of understanding," Abbas said of Hamas.

In a message to Israel, Abbas added: "We reject blackmail and it is no longer possible for us to accept the occupation of Palestinian land."
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Of course, according to some people, this is just fine...