Arab foreign ministers gathered for crisis talks on the standoff in the Palestinian territories on Friday amid dire warnings about the consequences of HamasÂ’s seizure of the Gaza Strip. The ministers were originally due to meet on Saturday to discuss the latest in a spate of killings of anti-Syrian politicians there, but agreed to reschedule the meeting after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas dissolved a three-month-old power-sharing government on Thursday and Hamas fighters seized control of the Gaza Strip.Ahead of the meeting, Arab League ambassadors appealed to both Hamas and AbbasÂ’s factions to return to Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation talks. As they met, Hamas fighters were taking over all remaining institutions loyal to Abbas in Gaza and the final routing of his supporters in the territory during the night left the ambassadorsÂ’ call looking a forlorn hope.
Egypt called on Hamas to accept Abbas’s presidential prerogative after he declared a state of emergency and dissolved both parliament and the government on Thursday pending fresh elections. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit stressed the need to “respect legitimate Palestinian institutions, abide by a unified Palestinian decision, and respect the Palestinian National Authority...and its President Mahmud Abbas”.
The head of the Fatah delegation to the Egyptian-brokered talks, former deputy premier Azzam Al Ahmed, was to represent the Palestinians at Friday’s ministers’ meeting. King Abdullah II of Jordan said he hoped the feuding sides would “engage in dialogue to come to an agreement to avert an explosive situation”.
“Palestinian political leaders must face up to their responsibility and control the fighting groups (and) resume open dialogue,” said Organisation of the Islamic Conference secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.
Arab newspapers expressed concern that Hamas’s seizure of Gaza would merely play into the hands of Israel, giving it a pretext to spurn peace talks with the Palestinians and press ahead with settlement of the occupied West Bank. The effective creation of two rival Palestinian governments will give Israel “more excuses to reject peace initiatives, on the pretext of the absence of a Palestinian partner,” warned Qatari daily Al-Raya.
An opinion piece in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat appealed to Hamas not to torpedo Palestinian national unity for the sake of power in tiny and impoverished Gaza. “Hamas’s options will from now on be limited to the huge prison camp that is Gaza,” warned columnist Maher Ossman. “It would be disgraceful if Hamas’s ambitions were confined to a trivial mini-state which will most likely be ignored,” he added, calling for “a common national platform that would give the Palestinians a united voice”.