THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal on Wednesday, setting Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, on a collision course with Israel.In a surprise announcement following secret talks in Cairo, Mr Abbas’s moderate Fatah party and its Islamist arch-rival Hamas said they had put a four-year rift behind them.
The two parties pledged to form an interim unity government with elections in both the West Bank and Gaza in December.
The rapprochement is seen as a vital step towards the creation of a Palestinian state but immediately stoked fears in Israel that the moderate Palestinian Authority, led by Mr Abbas and dominated by Fatah, would swing towards radicalism.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, immediately condemned the deal.
“The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas,” he said. “There is no possibility for peace with both. Hamas aspires to destroy Israel and fire rockets at our cities ... at our children.” » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, April 27, 2011
