In accord with Fatah, Hamas agrees to halt attacks on Israelis in the West Bank
Arab and Palestinian media are in an uproar after an Israeli paper published that the agreement includes a Hamas commitment to end terror attacks on Israelis in the West Bank.
By HAGAY HACOHEN, YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUAUpdated: OCTOBER 15, 2017 12:23Head of Hamas delegation Saleh Arouri and Fatah leader Azzam Ahmad sign a reconciliation deal in Cairo, Egypt, October 12, 2017.(photo credit: REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH)
The much-hailed accord signed in Cairo between Hamas and Fatah this week reportedly contains secret clauses, one of which was that Hamas will longer carry out terror attacks on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, according to veteran army radio analyst Jacky Hugi, reported Maariv. Hugi reported that sources that are ‘in the know’ told him that Major General Majid Faraj, head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Agency, refused to sign the agreements until Hamas will agree to a truce in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.The meaning of this truce is that Hamas will refrain from planning and executing attacks on Israelis living in the West Bank. While Hugi is clear in stating that the truce is unlikely to last beyond the time Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has left in office, and that individual terrorists may still attempt to attack Israelis regardless of what Hamas has agreed to – this is a 'revolutionary step'.Hugi pointed out Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, who now serves as the unofficial Hamas envoy for foreign relations, gave an inspired speech at the signing ceremony in Cairo in which he sought to sow unity between the rival factions. “Despite our disagreements, and even if we caused each other pain, we are all brothers,” Arouri said. “Our fate is the same, our suffering is one, and because of this our future is also shared.” Hamas leadership is reportedly ‘furiously investigating’ who leaked the information to Hugi, and some within the Palestinian media have said that the developments that Hugi has described have little basis in reality, and have been misinterpreted by the reporter.
