FDD BRIEF
by Grant Rumley
June 2, 2015

The political reconciliation struck between the two dominant Palestinian factions on the eve of last summer’s 50-day war turns a year old on Tuesday. Then, as now, reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas exists on paper only. The two sides continue to detest each other, refusing to fulfill any of the agreement’s conditions. The Palestinian Authority (PA) “government of technocrats,” formed ahead of last year’s war, is the only lasting evidence of the agreement. The government remains intact, but only in the Fatah-controlled West Bank with neither the desire nor capability to govern the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The surprise reconciliation announcement effectively ended the peace talks that Washington had mediated for nine months with little progress. READ MORE