by Osama Radi, Emad Drimly
GAZA/RAMALLAH, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- After the Palestinian Consensus Government arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday to take over its ministries, analysts say the government walks on a thorny road to achieve reconciliation with the Hamas movement.
It is a serious start in a thorny road in order to achieve full and real reconciliation and end more than 10 years of internal split between Gaza, which has been ruled by Hamas, and the West Bank, which is largely under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas.
A series of obstacles threaten the process of reconciliation, as they need the determination to follow the principle of comprehensive political partnership.
Earlier in the day, the Palestinian government held its first cabinet meeting in Gaza since Oct. 2014.
Palestinian Prime Minister Hamdallah and his cabinet ministers as well as chiefs of security arrived in Gaza on Monday, the first visit since December 2014, to take over responsibilities in the coastal enclave.
The Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank hope the move will end the differences between Abbas' Fatah Party and the Islamic Hamas movement, and bring unity to the two geographically separated areas.
Hani al-Masri, a political analyst from Ramallah, stressed the importance of involving a wider range of faction into the reconciliation.
The successful reconciliation should not only "involve an individual faction or two factions (Hamas and Fatah) to achieve unity, but ensure the widest possible participation of all Palestinian society," he said.
The arrival of Hamdallah's government in Gaza to take over administration from Hamas resulted from an Egyptian-brokered agreement reached in Cairo last month between Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas accepted the dissolution of its controversial administrative committee it formed in March to rule Gaza.
Earlier in the day, the Hamas movement said in an official press statement that it has done everything to hand over the administration work, calling for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to cancel sanctions against it.
"We have presented everything required in order to help the government its tasks, missions and responsibilities without hesitation, postponement or delay. In return, President Mahmoud Abbas should take an urgent decision calling off punitive measures taken against the Gaza Strip," the statement said.
Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian President's Fatah party, along with other factions, are scheduled to hold an assessment meeting in Cairo next week, where they will discuss the progress of the government's first week of work in Gaza.
Observers, however, believe the reconciliation efforts might collapse if Israel insists on confiscating Hamas' arms and the international community demands Hamas recognize Israel, something that the militant group would never do.
"I think reconciliation would succeed if the Palestinian rivals and factions jointly agree on a specific strategy related to weapons and arms, as well as a specific political program or agenda that doesn't contradict the world's requirements," said Mekheimar Abu Se'da, a political science professor from Gaza.
The two rival groups previously reached several agreements on ending differences in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar, but they always failed to deliver their promises.
This time, however, analysts believe the regional atmosphere is ready to accept a real and serious reconciliation between the two rivals, as the international quartet of the United States, Russia, the UN and the EU welcomed last week the shift of power in Gaza from Hamas to Hamdallah's government.
Hani Habib, a Gaza-based political analyst, said he believes the Palestinian reconciliation has "become a regional and international priority."
"This time it is not only Israel and the Palestinians that are involved, but also the Arabs, Islamic states and the West," he said.
"There is a growing Arab-Israeli rapprochement and bringing it to an official level requires a serious resumption of peace to resolve the Palestinian cause," the expert noted.
