(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new unity government on Monday following an agreement between Abbas’s Fatah party and the terrorist group Hamas.
The agreement came as the two sides resolved a dispute over a key ministry position.
“Today, after announcing the government of national unity we declare the end of division that caused catastrophic harm to our cause,” Abbas said in a statement announcing the unity government.
Abbas said that Rami Al-Hamdallah, the former interim Palestinian prime minister, would be the prime minister of the new unity government. Additionally, Abbas announced that government would recognize agreements previously made by the Palestinians, in reference to the Oslo Accords with Israel.
But Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech that the new government would continue to pursue “resistance by all forms,” which likely includes armed conflict against Israel. The swearing-in of the unity government ends nearly seven years of division between the Palestinian factions.