CRI听力:Palestinian Reconciliation Challenged as Unity Gov't May Reshuffle

A Palestinian official says Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah handed his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday afternoon, and Abbas ordered Hamdallah to form a new government.

Abbas announced on Tuesday that the current unity government would resign within 24 hours.

Palestine Liberation Organization official Ashraf Khatib says the unity government has faced tremendous difficulties with both Israeli policies against the Palestinians and internal issues.

"There was a war that took place against Gaza. We have also the problem that is taking place in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, the settlement activities, and Israeli policies weakening the government regarding withholding the Palestinian tax money. The other problems are also the reconstruction in Gaza, and preparing for the presidential and parliamentary elections, yet these issues, especially the internal issues, have been difficult in the last year or so."

Talk of reshuffling the government began after it emerged that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has been holding separate, indirect talks with Israel on ways to firm up an informal ceasefire agreement reached last August, ending the 50-day war in Gaza.

Professor Mukhaimar Abu Saada with Al-Azhar University in Gaza says if the government resigns, it means the Palestinian reconciliation has reached a dead end.

"The government came as the result of Palestinian consensus between Hamas and Fatah, and since this consensus no longer exists because Hamas is going its own way with Israel, Abu Mazen (Abbas) and Fatah feel that there is no need for this government to function anymore. President Mahmoud Abbas feels that any deal between Hamas and Israel will deepen the rift between West Bank and Gaza, and will probably push Gaza to become a separate entity."

After Abbas' announcement on Tuesday, both Hamas and Islamic Jihad condemned the unilateral decision to change government, saying they were not consulted.

Professor Abu Saada says Hamas has a concern that a new government may not deal with Gaza problems, and from a constitutional prospective, Hamas will not be able to establish its own government in Gaza.

But PLO official Khatib says discussions to form a new government will include consultations with all Palestinian factions.

"We are talking about a government that will have specific tasks, among these tasks is the internal issues in terms of the reconciliation, the reconstruction of Gaza, and also preparing for the presidential and parliamentary elections. What we are planning to do is trying to found a consensus government, with representatives from different parties, and that might help in tackling some of the difficulties this current government has been facing."

The current unity government was formed last June after the reconciliation between the two major Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas.

It is expected to continue to function until a new government is formed.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.