What Not To Expect from a Palestinian Unity Deal
Several hurdles stand in the way of an enduring agreement between Fatah and Hamas.
The scene was all too familiar: A group of Palestinian men from rival factions Hamas and Fatah, plus a representative of a brotherly Arab country acting as interlocutor, all huddled on a small podium shaking hands before an even larger crowd of journalists. On Thursday, an agreement was signed between the two parties, putting an end to a longstanding schism and ushering in a new era of unity in Palestinian politics. But this wasn’t the first time.
Several other reconciliation agreements have been signed over the past decade between the two groups, which have been at odds since Hamas’s takeover of the Gaza Strip following its electoral win in 2006. This time, the men were noticeably older and Hamas’s
