 A preliminary coalition agreement between Abbas' Fatah Party and Hamas, announced on Sept. 11, "is over now, and we have to start from square one," he said, not ruling out the renewal of talks at a later date. | “A Hamas Cabinet minister, giving a dramatically different assessment of the situation, said the two sides were on the verge of forming a government, possibly one made up of professionals, not politicians.” |
Abbas also said a new Cabinet must be formed to end a recent surge in violence that claimed 10 lives in three days. He did not elaborate, but Abbas holds wide-ranging constitutional powers that include the authority to disband the current government. A Hamas Cabinet minister, giving a dramatically different assessment of the situation, said the two sides were on the verge of forming a government, possibly one made up of professionals, not politicians. |