Fatah backs two-state solution, sharpening rift with Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
August 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Fatah on Sunday endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, underlining its ideological conflict with the Islamist Hamas and drawing political battle lines for their next election showdown. The movement adopted the program at its convention - Fatah's first in 20 years - that also tried to finesse the key principle of violent resistance against Israel, calling it a right but preferring measures like civil disobedience.

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Hamas arrests 45 Fatah men in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar’i - July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Fatah said that its rival Hamas movement arrested 45 of its movement in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The movement said in a press statement that Abdulrahman Hamad, a former minister and a member of Fatah Revolutionary Council, was one of the 45 detainees who were summoned to a Hamas police post. According to Fatah, most of the arrests took place in southern Gaza Strip towns of Rafah and Khan Younis.

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Hamas, Fatah delay unity talks again
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by HIsham Abu Taha - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am

GAZA/RAMALLAH:Egyptian-mediated Palestinian reconciliation talks between rivals Fatah and Hamas set for next Saturday have been delayed for a month. A senior Fatah official on Saturday said that his movement and Hamas decided to postpone the talks until Aug. 25.

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Brothers divided by Gaza rivalry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Erin Cunningham - July 13, 2009 - 12:00am

Every morning Nidal dons his blue camouflage fatigues, trademark of the Hamas Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, and sets off to work as a civil policeman in the Jabaliya refugee camp outside Gaza City. In the same camp, another policeman, Ismail, keeps his own uniform tucked neatly in a drawer, forbidden to wear it after Hamas fighters ousted his fellow Fatah forces from Gaza in a violent power struggle in 2007.

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Spy-for-spy charges fuel enduring Palestinian feud
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said Wednesday it had broken up an espionage network of the rival Fatah movement which was plotting to sabotage security in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Hamas's spying-and-sabotage allegation follows similar charges by Fatah in the West Bank against Hamas, as the two rivals once again failed to bridge deep differences over how to deal with Israel and advance Palestinian aspirations.

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Fatah Spokesman: Hamas Monitoring Mahmoud Abbas’s Movements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali Saleh - July 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Fatah spokesman Fahmi Zaarir revealed that Hamas detainees have confessed to monitoring the movements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and gathering information on his security detail. Zaarir informed Asharq Al-Awsat that a group of arrested Hamas cadres confessed to monitoring senior official’s convoys, including that of President Mahmoud Abbas. Zaarir refused to go into detail, but stressed that this issue is related to the security apparatus.

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Abbas: Hamas hoarding weapons in plot to assassinate PA officials
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - July 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority has intelligence indicating Hamas is planning to attack its officials, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday. Abbas' statement follows the announcement made earlier this week by the PA, in which it confirmed that members of a Hamas cell were arrested, and later confessed to plotting to carry out attacks against Palestinian Authority officials and institutions before July 7th – the date Fatah and Hamas are expected to sign a reconciliation agreement.

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Fatah deputy reports progress in unity talks with Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - June 30, 2009 - 12:00am

The head of the Fatah faction in the Palestinian parliament, Azzam al-Ahmed, said on Tuesday that significant progress has been made in Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks with Hamas. The Fatah deputy said that both sides have found common ground on key issues, including Hamas prisoners being held in Palestinian Authority prisons, Palestinian elections, as well as the make-up of the armed force that is likely to be deployed in the Gaza Strip.

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Fatah, Hamas to miss unity deadline set by Cairo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - June 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Hamas Islamists and the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been given three more weeks to seek a reconciliation deal after it became clear they would miss a July 7 deadline set by Egypt. Palestinian officials said on Tuesday that Cairo had now given the factions until July 28 to agree to resolve their political divisions and end bickering marked by clashes and security crackdowns in Gaza and the West Bank. The sides will leave Egypt and return for a final negotiating round on July 25.

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Palestinian groups round up rivals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - June 25, 2009 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK // On June 14, Fatah and Hamas, the estranged main Palestinian factions, seemingly moved a step closer to reconciliation when representatives met in Ramallah and Gaza City and agreed to begin releasing prisoners held by both sides. But 10 days later, with a security sweep in the West Bank that netted more than 100 Hamas members, and the closing of a Gaza newspaper and the arrest of its editor, the rivals appear instead to have taken two strides backward.

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