Palestinian leader calls for national unity

Arab leaders have been meeting in Kuwait over the Gaza crisis. They agree a reconstruction fund of 2 billion US dollars is needed, but they are divided over the political reponse. There are regimes like Syria which support Palestinian militancy.
But there pro Western Arab governments who blamed Hamas for provoking Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for a national unity government of Palestinians which could pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections. Abbas said once unified Palestinians can effectively call for the lifting of the Israeli blockade and the opening of crossings for supplies.

But many observres believe a unified Palestinian regime is an elusive dream. Gaza has been run by Hamas, which has done its best to stamp out the influence of Fatah there through arrests and violence. The West Bank has been run by Abbas’s Fatah, movement which, in turn, has used force in an attempt to crush Hamas there.

But the split between Gaza and the West Bank is not just about politics. There’s a geographical divide between the West Bank and Gaza. There may be some sense of unity now – among the public, if not the politicians. But when the killing stops, some fear Gaza’s trauma could ultimately push the people of the two territories further apart.