Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations

    By Saud Abu Ramadan

    GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Rival Fatah and Islamic Hamas Movements have recently exchanged accusations that each is not interested in launching a dialogue that ends the current internal split among the Palestinians.

    Top Fatah movement leader in Gaza Zakareya el-Agha told reporters on Wednesday that his movement is ready to sit down as immediate as possible on the table of dialogue with rival Hamas movement to end the crisis.

    Palestinian observers say that after more than a year of disputes, fighting and differences between the two rival movements, a substantial change in the position of Fatah movement can be seen.

    After Hamas took control of Gaza by force in mid June last year, Fatah and President Mahmoud Abbas insisted that no dialogue with Hamas until it ends its Gaza takeover and brings the enclave back under Abbas control.

    "My movement is ready to sit with Hamas movement on the table of dialogue soon. We are really serious in making this offer because Fatah now is interested to end an era of internal division," said el-Agha.

    However, leaders of the Hamas movement in Gaza doubted on Wednesday that whether President Abbas, or Fatah movement are serious in their calls for the resumption of dialogue.

    "I believe that the fate of the dialogue is linked to the American veto which is imposed on President Abbas and prevents him from resuming the dialogue with Hamas movement," said Mushit el-Masri, one of Hamas leaders in Gaza.

    El-Agha expressed his astonishment over al-Masri's statements, adding "their (Hamas) statements are really showing that they are not serious to sit down together with Fatah movement's leaders on one table."

    "Why does Hamas make its negative judgment on the dialogue before it starts? In the past, they (Hamas) are begging for dialogue, and now when we said we are serious to resume it, Hamas doubts if it will happen," said el-Agha.

    Al-Masri said that Hamas wants the dialogue to be based on the previous agreements, mainly Cairo agreement of 2005, the national document of accordance issued in 2006 and Mecca agreement of 2007.

    He added that the declaration of Sana, the capital of Yemen, has to be included "if Fatah and Abbas are really serious to resume the dialogue with the American veto and without imposing impossible conditions."

    Although the two rival movements' leaders had reached several agreements since Hamas movement won in the legislative elections held in the Palestinian territories in January 2006, they still dispute and no tangible or positive results had been achieved.

    Well-informed Palestinian sources said that Egypt will invite next week all the representatives of the Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas to launch a comprehensive Palestinian dialogue in Cairo soon.

    Meanwhile, Egypt has been playing a very important role to settle all the Palestinian questions.

    Egypt has brokered a truce between Israel and Gaza militant groups on June 19 and it mediated indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to release Palestinian prisoners for releasing captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who is held in Gaza.

    On Wednesday, an Islamic Jihad (Holy War) leader in Gaza expressed his movement's readiness to exert all needed efforts to resume the dialogue and end the current status of division.

    Nafez Azzam told reporters in Gaza that his movement is holding contacts to clean the prisons in Gaza and the West Bank from political prisoners were recently arrested following a July 25 bombing attack in Gaza.

    "If we succeed in cleaning the prisons from all political prisoners who belong to the two movements (Fatah and Hamas), I believe that it will be a very good ground for launching a comprehensive dialogue," said Azzam.