Celebrations erupted in the Gaza Strip with the announcement of the Fatah-Hamas agreement in Cairo, with residents of the crowded and war-battered coastal enclave hoping desperately that the accord will bring relief from economic despair and international isolation.
But despite the fanfare and upbeat statements from both sides, a leading Gaza analyst, Mkhaimar Abusada, cautioned that in fact they had made only "a very small step on the road to reconciliation. Both Hamas and Fatah have a long way to go before they can say the division is behind us."
Reports from Cairo said the two sides had agreed that Hamas would hand over responsibility for the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to the Palestinian Authority by November 1. This raises hopes that the crossing, kept mostly closed by Egypt in recent years, will become a reliable channel between Gaza and the outside world.
The two sides also agreed Hamas would hand over administrative control of Gaza to a unity government by December 1, according to a statement by Egypt's state information service. One of the negotiators said the deal includes 3,000 members of Palestinian Authority security forces redeploying to Gaza.
But the deal did not cover major outstanding issues including the integration of Hamas into the PLO, a date for presidential and parliamentary elections and the future of Hamas's armed wing, the Izzedin al-Qassam brigades, Mr Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University, pointed out. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has said the brigades must be disarmed while Hamas leaders have ruled this out.
Nor was there an announcement that Mr Abbas would lift the crippling sanctions he imposed on Gaza six months ago, including halting payments for electricity, which caused blackouts, and slashing the salaries of government employees. The sanctions were intended to press Hamas into dismantling an administrative committee tasked with ruling the Strip. Hamas's annulment of the committee last month paved the way for the reconciliation moves and the expectation was that Mr Abbas would lift the sanctions last week when the PA cabinet held its first meeting in Gaza in three years.
Despite the agreement's limitations, long suffering Gazans greeted the very news that a deal had been reached with celebratory gunfire and the waving of Egyptian, Palestinian, Fatah and Hamas flags.
"This is a great step towards stability and prosperity in the Gaza Strip," said Mohammed Faris, owner of a beauty parlour. "Gaza has been closed for ten years, with no government spending, no money, the borders closed, companies going bankrupt and soaring unemployment. The recent steps of Abbas when he cut the salaries and reduced the electricity make it much more difficult. It should be lifted now. It's his job to look after Gaza now and take care of what the people need."
Mr Faris said he has not been able to visit his grandchildren in Germany because the Rafah crossing has been closed. He hopes that will now change.
Raed Atamneh, a driver who lives in Beit Hanoun in the northern part of the Strip, said the agreement is "very good for Palestinians."
"After ten dark years, after no work, no electricity and being blockaded it's a nice agreement to open us to the world and give us a better life. Inshallah (God willing) with this government the economy will improve. The border with Egypt should now open.
"This will improve things for my family," he added. "My kids finished university without work. Maybe now they will have a good future and find work with the new government. As for me, I have no work and eight kids to support. I hope now maybe there will be some work for me."
Naji Shurrab, also a political scientist at al-Azhar University, termed the agreement "a very important achievement". He said he expected some 50,000 Hamas government employees to be able to keep their jobs under unity arrangements, in a boost for the Islamic movement while the Palestinian Authority taking over the border crossings boosts Mr Abbas.
Mr Shurrab expects representatives of an array of Palestinian factions will soon travel to Cairo to pave the way for forming a new unity government. He also believes President Abbas will soon cancel the sanctions and pay a brief visit to Gaza. It would be his first in a decade.
The most difficult outstanding issue is the future of the Qassam brigades, Mr Shurrab said. But it could be resolved if Mr Abbas allows the Hamas armed wing to keep its weapons for now on condition that Hamas respect his policy decisions.
Ghassan Khatib, a former PA minister and now vice president of Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, is less than optimistic about what the agreement announced on Thursday can achieve.
"It didn't say anything about the political, security or election files. The two sides could afford to agree only on civilian responsibility of the government. " He also has doubts about whether President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority can govern Gaza.
"Managing the situation there is mission impossible," he said. "Public anger will be transferred from Hamas to the PA government. They don't have enough money, the problems are enormous and I doubt the [international] donors will be generous enough to make it succeed."
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READ MORE ABOUT CORONAVIRUS
Honeymoonish
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MO
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MANDOOB
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Company%20profile
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Dubai World Cup Carnival card:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 | 2,410 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
if you go
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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THREE
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Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
