Fatah, Hamas agree on committing to reconciliation deal

Fatah and Hamas have agreed to pull no stops in reconciliation The long-awaited meeting between Fatah and Hamas concluded Sunday evening in the Gaza Strip, with an emphasis on committing to the implementation of the reconciliation deal .
A minister in Hamas’s government also welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s visit to Gaza.
The National Relations Commissioner in Fatah, and a member of its delegation in the meeting, Diab Al-Luh, said that the meeting was important and that it discussed the overall reconciliation agreement and the outcome of the meeting in Cairo between Abbas and Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal. An agreement was said to have been reached for the parties to cooperate and communicate with each other to develop appropriate methods to implement what they had agreed upon at their meetings in Cairo, stressing that both sides confirmed their commitment to implement the reconciliation deal.
The meeting included some of both parties’ big names, such as Hamas political leaders Khalil Al Hayya, Jamal Abu Hashem, and Hamas engineer Ismail Al-Ashqar; and fromFatah Abdullah Abu Samhadana, Hisham Abdel Razek and Diab Al Luh.Prominent Hamas official, Ismail Ashqar, announced before the meeting that they would discuss several pending issues between the factions, within the framework of the Palestinian reconciliation.
This is considered the first meeting of its kind, following the one held in Cairo last Thursday between Abbas and Meshaal.
Ashqar said in a press statement on Sunday morning that the meeting with Fatah would discuss the issue of political detainees and passports, pointing out that Hamas held several meetings with various Palestinian factions concerning the reconciliation.
Ashqar added that the meetings took place within the framework of preparing for a larger meeting in Cairo by December 18.
Abdullah Abu Samhadana, a Fatah official in Gaza, said that “The meeting will discuss the overview of the reconciliation files in general”, stressing in a press statement the necessity for more meetings between Fatah and Hamas, to overcome any obstacles before the reconciliation and compromise on pending issues.
 Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesperson, said : “Hamas stressed the needs of releasing political prisoners,” he said, referring to Hamas presenting a list of its 104 political prisoners Fatah, and requesting Fatah to show its list, if it had one.
 Fatah official Abdullah Abu Samhadana stated that the activation of the political prisoners’ committee that would start Monday, expecting the release of political prisoners from both sides to be within this week.
Interior Minister of the deposed Palestinian government in Gaza, Fathi Hamad, said that his ministry was ready to discuss the list submitted by Fatah on the issue of political detainees, while insisting that there were no political detainees in Gaza.
Hamad said in a meeting with Palestinian businessmen:“The government and Hamas are ready to open all files concerning the reconciliation, particularly the issue of political detainees, although there are no political detainees in the Gaza Strip”.
He noted that his ministry was willing to discuss the list submitted by Fatah and to handle the file, calling for goodwill concerning the issuance of passports, “because there are patients and disadvantaged people who need them”.
Hamad welcomed President Abbas in Gaza, saying thatthe government and Hamas do wish for the reconciliation to work at this phase.
About the passports issue, Abu Samhadana stressed on all Palestinians’ right to get passports despite their political views, pointing out that, the committee would launch a mechanism to issue passports for all residents in Gaza.
Senior Fatah official Azzam Al Ahmad also said: “Fatah expects to win in the coming elections on May 4; whatever the result of Islamists in Arab elections, Palestinian has its own special condition.”
 He also announced that, Fatah has prepared for the elections since the signing of reconciliation in Cairo.
Chairman of the Assembly, Ali Al-Hayek, reiterated the necessity of speeding up the implementation of the reconciliation agreement, expressing his hope for these results to be translated in real life and end the division "which only benefited the Israeli occupation".
Hayek called for prompt meetings between all parties that signed the reconciliation last May in order to develop methods of implementing all articles in the agreement, without exception, as soon as possible, so that the process would end by the Presidential elections and legislative elections of the National Assembly.
The rival Palestinian factions also agreed to form a joint committee to end political arrests of their supporters.
Diab Al-Louh, an official of President Abbas' party, was not specific when the committee would be able to stop politically-motivated arrests.
In May, Egypt brokered a reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah. Under the deal, the groups will form a united government of technocrats to prepare for general elections by May 2012.