Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas resigned along with his Hamas Cabinet in an effort to form a new Palestinian government. The action is based off of plans made last week in Mecca to split power between Hamas and Fatah. President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah appointed Haniyeh to form a new cabinet within 5 weeks. Meanwhile, the two parties will resolve disputes regarding their combating militias.

However, even if this new Palestinian coalition is successfully formed it still seems unlikely to gain international support. While the government’s political program promises to “respect” international agreements, it does fall short of explicitly recognizing Israel. Because of their refusal to acknowledge the existence of their oppressors, Hamas has been labeled a terrorist group by the US, EU, and Israel. After Hamas was democratically elected to run the government, an international boycott cut aid to Palestine, and around one-third of the Hamas cabinet was kidnapped by Israel.

The Fatah party has enjoyed the relative unpopularity of Hamas, with the US and Israel offering to support Fatah financially in an early election. However, now that a unified Palestine is possible, Abbas’ aides say Washington has made it clear that they would boycott the new government, Fatah and independent members included. The aides also said Abbas would be exempt from the US boycott since he was elected separately.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed away from outright rejection of the new government. “Talking about recognizing or not recognizing the government” is premature, Rice said. “There isn’t one yet. When there is one, the United States will make a determination.” Rice will be attending a summit on Monday with Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli PM Olmert. It was hoped the summit would resume peace talks which have been stagnant for over 6 years, but debate over the new Palestinian coalition may overshadow any other business.

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