JERUSALEM: Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah will travel to Gaza on October 2 as part of a fresh push to end a decade-long split between Fatah and Hamas, which runs the enclave, his government said Monday.
The visit follows concessions by Islamist group Hamas after discussions with Egypt, which has urged it to take steps toward reconciliation with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah, based in the occupied West Bank.
Fatah and Hamas have been divided for a decade, with separate administrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“Prime minister Rami Hamdallah has decided after consulting with president Mahmud Abbas that the government will hold its weekly meeting in Gaza next week,” government spokesman Yusuf Al Mahmoud said in a statement published by official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
“Hamdallah and members of the government will arrive in Gaza next Monday to start taking over government responsibilities after Hamas announced its agreement to dissolve the administrative committee and enable the government to assume its full responsibilities.”
Hamdallah, who is not believed to have traveled to the Gaza Strip since 2015, also wrote about the visit on his Facebook page.
“I am heading to the beloved Gaza Strip next Monday with the government and all bodies, authorities and security services,” he wrote.
“We hope all parties and all Palestinians will focus on the national interest to enable the government to continue carrying out all of its functions in a way which serves the Palestinian citizens first.”
Hamas said a week ago that it had agreed to steps toward resolving the split with Abbas’s Fatah, announcing it would dissolve a body seen as a rival government — known as the administrative committee — and was ready to hold elections.
The statement came after Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian officials and with the Gaza Strip facing a mounting humanitarian crisis.
It remains unclear whether the steps will result in further concrete action toward ending the deep division with Fatah.
Hamas for now continues to run a de facto separate administration in the Gaza Strip and is in charge of security forces there.
Previous attempts to resolve the split have repeatedly failed. The last attempt at a unity government fell apart in 2015, with the two sides exchanging blame.
Hamas has run Gaza since 2007, having seized it in a near civil war from Fatah following a dispute over parliamentary elections won by the Islamist movement the previous year.
It formed the administrative committee in March, and since then Abbas has sought to put further pressure on the Islamist movement, reducing electricity payments for the Gaza Strip and cutting salaries for public employees.
The West Bank and Gaza have not participated in an election together since 2006.
Abbas, whose term was meant to end in 2009, has remained in office with no election held.
The Gaza Strip has meanwhile faced deteriorating humanitarian conditions, including a severe electricity crisis and a lack of clean water.
The coastal enclave of some two million people also has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates and has seen three wars with Israel since 2008.
It has been under an Israeli blockade for around a decade, while its border with Egypt has also remained largely closed in recent years.
Facing those conditions, Hamas has turned to Egypt for assistance, particularly for fuel to produce power and with hopes of opening the border — and has faced pressure to take steps toward Palestinian reconciliation in return.
Palestinian PM to visit Gaza next week for reconciliation efforts
Palestinian PM to visit Gaza next week for reconciliation efforts
Lebanese show strong trust in military, little confidence in parliament, poll finds
- Public security institutions viewed favorably as survey reveals low faith in state authorities
BEIRUT: Lebanese place strong trust in their military and security forces, a recent opinion poll conducted by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, as part of the ninth Arab Index, has found.
However, the survey, which included Lebanon and 14 other Arab countries, found that confidence in the state’s judicial, executive and legislative authorities remains low, peaking at just 41 percent.
Parliament emerged as the least trusted institution, garnering only 36 percent of respondents’ support.
Nasser Yassin, the center’s director, told Arab News that the survey is the largest in the Arab region by sample size, participating countries and range of topics.
Conducted from 2011 to last year, it enables analysis of shifts in Arab public opinion across 15 countries, including Lebanon.
At a press conference in Beirut, Mohammed Al-Masri, the center’s executive director and coordinator of the Arab Index program, presented Lebanon-specific survey results to academics and researchers.
The survey included 2,400 participants, he said.
Lebanese participants identified Israel as the primary threat to Lebanon’s security (56 percent), followed by the US (20 percent) and Iran (17 percent).
Regarding Lebanese citizens’ engagement in civil organizations and political parties, the survey found that “Lebanese involvement in these organizations is low, not exceeding 2 percent.”
Only 10 percent of participants reported political party membership.
Additionally, 62 percent do not trust political parties, while 36 percent do.
Fifty-one percent of Lebanese citizens plan to take part in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, tentatively scheduled for May, while 40 percent do not intend to take part.
The Arab Index asked about perceptions of the Lebanese army after the last Israeli war in Lebanon.
Fifty-six percent reported a more positive view, while 40 percent said their opinion remained unchanged.
Sixty-six percent of Lebanese respondents said their view of Hezbollah had not changed, while 13 percent viewed it more positively and 19 percent more negatively.
A majority of Lebanese considered the war a defeat (59 percent), while 38 percent viewed it as a victory.
Eighty-nine percent of respondents opposed Lebanon recognizing Israel, while 9 percent supported it.
Half of those in favor conditioned recognition on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Most opponents cited Israel’s colonial, racist and expansionist policies, with few referencing cultural or religious reasons.
Ninety-one percent of Lebanese viewed US policy on Palestine unfavorably.
Additionally, 58 percent perceived Iranian policies, and 40 percent perceived Russian policies, as threats to regional security and stability.
Thirty-six percent cited media outlets as their main source of information about the US, while 21 percent relied on the internet, particularly social media.
The index shows that public opinion has become more negative over the past decade. More than 70 percent of Lebanese believe the US seeks to impose its policies globally, control Arab countries, exacerbate divisions and favor non-democratic governments.
Fifty-six percent of respondents disagreed that the US protects human rights.
Thirty-seven percent said that changes in US policy toward Palestine, such as protecting Palestinians and ending support to Israel, would improve their perception of the US.
Fifty-eight percent of Lebanese citizens believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, while 39 percent disagree.
Most who believe Lebanon is on the wrong track attribute this to economic issues, political turmoil and the political system’s failure to meet its responsibilities.
They also cite “poor governance, flawed public policies and the lack of stability in general.”
Ninety-seven percent of those who believe Lebanon is on the right track attribute this to “the end of war, the election of a new president and the formation of a new government.”
Only 14 percent of respondents rated Lebanon’s security as “good” or “very good,” while 85 percent rated it as “bad” or “very bad.” Additionally, 86 percent rated the economic situation as “bad” or “very bad.”
Eighty-five percent of respondents provided a meaningful definition of “democracy,” which the Arab Opinion Index said is notably high.
However, only 51 percent support a political system in which the military holds power.
The percentage of respondents who support a political party’s accession to power through elections, even if they disagree with its principles, dropped from 50 percent before 2018 to 38 percent afterward.
The survey also revealed “near-unanimous agreement among Lebanese citizens that financial and administrative corruption is widespread,” adding that “this figure has not changed significantly since the survey began in 2011.”
Sixty-seven percent of respondents expressed some interest in political affairs.
Forty-four percent now rely on the internet for political news, the highest level since 2011 and a more than tenfold increase. Reliance on television has declined over the same period.
