AMMAN: Hamas is determined to reconcile with Fatah and end the decade-long Palestinian division, the group’s new leader Ismael Haniyeh told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday.
“We are serious about carrying out the needed steps to end the split with a strong will, and unify Palestinian efforts with the single goal of confronting the challenges facing our cause,” Haniyeh said in a phone call to New York, where Abbas is attending the UN General Assembly.
The Palestinian leadership has welcomed the new moves by the Islamist group that governs Gaza.
“The current political environment represented by Hamas’ moves are well received and viewed positively, with the hope that Egypt will continue to sponsor and guarantee these steps,” Fatah spokesman Naser Kidwwa, a former Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) ambassador to the UN, told Arab News.
“After their statement dissolving the administrative committee, we will need to see the national accords government hold a cabinet meeting in Gaza, followed by talks between Fatah and Hamas in the presence of our Egyptian brothers, then much wider talks involving all Palestinian factions and independent personalities.
“We seem to be on the right path, but this is a difficult and long journey that requires goodwill from all.”
Dr. Naji Sharab, a professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, said there was optimism among politicians but people in Gaza were still skeptical because there had been so many reconciliation false alarms in the past.
“The road ahead is difficult because the years of the division have left their marks in the areas of security, economy and public order,” he told Arab News.
Sharab, however, believes the current effort is serious. “Egypt is playing a major role this time and is pressing both sides.”
He also believes disunity and schism have become more of a liability than an asset to both sides.
“There are many worries and concerns because we are facing a long-term problem in order to merge a system built almost exclusively on one party being in power and negating all others, to a system of national unity and power sharing.”
One of the fears being expressed in both Gaza and the West Bank is that Hamas could turn into the Gaza equivalent of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Fadi Abu Baker, a PLO employee and a Fatah local leader in Al-Bireh, told Arab News that Hamas’ move toward reconciliation was no more than a clever maneuver.
“Unless they give up the security system they established, we will not have total national unity, and we will be seeing a situation similar to the vast powers that Hezbollah has in Lebanon, without necessarily having armed men on the streets.”
We are serious about unity, Hamas chief tells Abbas
We are serious about unity, Hamas chief tells Abbas
Israeli airstrikes pound areas north of Litani River as tensions with Hezbollah escalate
- Raids day after Tel Aviv signaled possible resumption of strikes, accusing Lebanon of ‘not moving fast enough’
- US President Donald Trump says Hezbollah ‘must be completely disarmed’
BEIRUT: Israeli airstrikes on Friday hit several areas north of the Litani River, a day after Israel signaled it could resume its attacks on Hezbollah after claiming the Lebanese army was “not moving fast enough” and that the Iran-backed group was “rebuilding its military system.”
The raids struck multiple locations across the Iqlim Al-Tuffah region, the heights of Jabal Al-Rihane, and the towns of Mlikh and Aaramta in the Jezzine District, as well as the area around Qal’at Meiss between Ansar and Al-Zrariyah. Strikes on the Tabna area, on the outskirts of Al-Baisariyah in the Sidon–Zahrani district, cut the road linking nearby villages.
Airstrikes also hit the valley between Kafroue and Aazze in the Nabatieh District, the outskirts of Ain Al-Tineh, and Jabal Machghara in Western Bekaa, while Israeli warplanes flew at low altitude over the south, reaching the airspace of Baalbek, northern Bekaa, and the surrounding villages.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed that Israel’s forces had targeted a “training compound” of the Radwan Force of Hezbollah allegedly used to conduct training for its members “in order to plan and carry out terrorist plots against army forces and the citizens of the state of Israel. The terrorist operatives were undergoing shooting training and qualification in the use of various combat means.”
Adraee added that the Israeli army struck “buildings and military facilities (used) for storing weapons” belonging to Hezbollah, and suggested that attacks were likely to continue.
Political writer Ali Al-Amin told Arab News: “The areas targeted by the Israeli airstrikes on Friday had previously been targeted repeatedly, but these areas are valleys and closed spaces belonging to the party, extending from the south to the Western Bekaa, and everyone knows that they contain bases and armament centers.”
Al-Amin added that Hezbollah “is currently living (in) an unprecedented moment of weakness. Iran, on the other hand, is facing a renewed predicament, confronting internal protests at a moment of external pullback, which means that whether Hezbollah hands over its weapons or does not hand them over, it is in a state of exposure at a time of a major imbalance.”
The end of 2025 marked the deadline Lebanon committed to for the state’s monopoly of arms south of the Litani River. On Jan. 8, its first session of the year, the Cabinet is expected to hear the Lebanese army’s report announcing the completion of its mission, preceding the second phase which covers the southern area up to the Awali River. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the country remained committed to meeting the deadline.
An official political source confirmed to Arab News: “The army commander will present his report and the military institution will continue its mission. There will be no postponement.”
Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a statement: “Hezbollah’s disarmament is a US-Israeli project targeting Lebanon and its sovereignty and independence, even if it is marketed under the banner of exclusive state control of arms.”
He added that the demand for control of weapons amid “continued Israeli attacks means that you are not working in Lebanon’s interest, but in Israel’s interest.”
On Thursday, following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said that Hezbollah “has been behaving badly” and “must be completely disarmed,” adding that “the Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage” with the group.
Asked whether Israel should strike Hezbollah in Lebanon due to the group’s refusal to disarm, Trump replied: “We’re going to see about that.”
Sirens sounded in Baram in Western Galilee in Israel on Friday morning, and a missile was launched toward a target in Upper Galilee, exploding in the north near the Lebanese towns of Maroun Al-Ras and Yaroun. Israeli Army Radio later reported that it had been a false alarm and the “suspect was a flock of birds.”
