REUTERS
May 27, 2014
Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas agreed on the make-up of a national unity government on Tuesday in the most significant step yet toward healing their seven-year rift.
The two groups said they had decided on a list of independent, technocrat ministers who will run the government pending elections in at least six months – moves they hope will revive institutions paralysed since the parties fought a brief civil war in 2007.
Officials from the two sides told a news conference in the Gaza Strip that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will make a formal announcement of the new government later this week after choosing a religious affairs minister.
“The viewpoints of the Hamas and Fatah movements will be presented to President (Abbas) to give his final decision on the government line-up,” Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed said.
The deal cements an initial unity pledge the two parties announced on April 23, just as U.S.-backed peace talks Abbas was holding with Israel were collapsing.
ArchitectGuy on Israel 