A spokesperson of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, said on
Saturday that a Palestinian National Unity Government might be formed
in ten days. Meanwhile, Abbas met in Gaza with the Palestinian Prime
Minister, Ismail Haniyya, from the ruling Hamas party.
Ghazi Hamad, Palestinian Authority spokesperson, stated that Abbas and Haniyya agreed to continue the talks and meetings in the coming days on the issue of the unity government.
Abbas presented a document to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad on the eve of the beginning of the talks, the document stated that the new unity government would request a multinational force deployment in the Palestinian territory.
Abbas will be holding talks with all Palestinian factions, asking them to be fully committed to cease “all attacks against Israeli soldiers and targets as a supreme national interests”. The document also states that Abbas would head the cabinet meetings of the government.
The proposed document gives Abbas the full authority to talk talks and negotiations with Israel, and calls for the demand of holding an international peace conference in an attempt to further the stalled peace process.
Abbas is expecting the Palestinian factions to answer his proposal by next week. The suggested government has, according to the document, three options for formation; a Technocrat Government, a government which constitutes of a mixed team of technocrats and politicians, or a small cabinet which includes representatives of all factions that are willing to participate.
Yet, the document does not include articles about the devision of power of each party. It is worth mentioning that Hamas won and overwhelming majority during the January Palestinian Legislative elections.
