Egypt threatens to withdraw from hosting Fateh-Hamas talks

Egypt has accused both Fateh and Hamas of being jointly responsible for the failure in the national conciliation negotiations, warning it will no more host the negotiation meetings between them if their current approach is to remain the same. Meanwhile, the member of the political bureau of the Popular Front for The Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)  MP Jamil al-Majdalawi, has urged both organisations to stop the media war against each other. A high profile Egyptian official complained that the two organisations have failed to apply both Cairo and Doha agreements and as a result, the situation is likely to become further complicated rather than settled,  and that the continuous media wars between both organisations did little to reflect their serious intention to reach a solution for the current split, and was preventing the declaration of a transitional government. "I'm afraid if the approach by both organisations  doesn't change, Cairo will no longer be willing to host negotiation meetings between them". In the same context, MP Jamil al-Majdalawi, stressed on Saturday the necessity for coordination between the Palestinian organisations within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), along with guaranteeing fundamental freedoms inside both Gaza and the West Bank, and assuring the ability of the Central Committee for the elections to do its work in Gaza. Al-Majdalawi urged Fateh and Hamas "to stop the media war between them, in order to give a chance for the anticipated transitional government to be declared with president Mahmoud Abbas as the PM, as the current split in the authority had been proven to cause disastrous results for our main national project". The tensions between the two organisations have reached crisis point with mutually offensive statements, as each organisation  accuses the other of being responsible for the fuel crisis in the Gaza Strip. For its part, Hamas accuses Fateh of participating in the Israeli siege of Gaza, and preventing fuel supplies from reaching the Strip, while Fateh leaders retaliated by accusing Hamas of laying over the conciliation process to serve an Iranian agenda. The Palestinian political observer, Talal Okal, has said that the growing tensions between Fateh and Hamas will not prevent a national conciliation being reached, but he added that achieving this conciliation "will not happen in the near future as there are big players in both organisations, who have real interests in maintaining the status quo as long as possible." Media professor Ehab Bsisso, cautions that reaching a national conciliation is vital for the future of the Palestinian cause, but he believed that "the destiny of this file is not only in the hands of Fateh and Hamas, as both organisations are involved in regional and international conflicts that are significantly affecting the Palestinian internal conditions". However,  Bsisso added that "the Palestinian national conciliation is achievable, but may take time, taking into account the unsettled political atmosphere in the region". The political observer, Ahmed Rafiq Awad, agreed with Bsisso, pointing to the Iranian and Syrian connections which affect the Palestinian internal situation, adding that "maybe both Fateh and Hamas think that by laying over the conciliation for some time will be better for their long-term positions, as they are both waiting for the final outcomes of the ongoing regional conflicts." Awad believed that the main beneficiary of this impasse is Israel, which has warned several times that it would impose offensive procedures against the Palestinian people unless Fateh and Hamas reach a settlement.