The Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement was signed between

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

in the city of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

on 8 February 2007, agreeing to stop the internal military confrontations in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and form a government of national unity. Representatives from the Fatah side included the President of the Palestinian Authority

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

and

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

member Mohammed Dahlan. The Palestinian Prime Minister

Ismail Haniyeh Ismail Haniyeh (, ; 29 January 1962 – 31 July 2024) was a Palestinian politician who served as third chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, his assassination in July 2024. He also served as ...

and

Khaled Mashal Khaled Mashal (, ; born 28 May 1956) is a Palestinian politician who served as the second chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from 1996 until May 2017, when he was succeeded by Ismail Haniyeh. He has also covered duties as the acting lea ...

represented Hamas. Under the agreement, Hamas agreed to "respect" PLO's previous agreements with Israel.

Content

The Mecca Agreement contains four determinations: # Stop and prevent the shedding of Palestinian blood; unite and confront the occupation; adopt the language of dialogue as the sole basis for solving the political disagreements # Form a Palestinian national unity government #Activate and reform the

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

and accelerate the work of the preparatory committee based on the Cairo and Damascus Understandings #Political partnership on the basis of the effective laws in the PNA and on the basis of political pluralism

Mecca agreement text

The text of the Mecca Agreement:''Mecca Agreement''
', 8 February 2007''. Published in Al Ayyam, 9 February 2007

Mahmoud Abbas's letter to Ismail Haniyeh

The agreement was accompanied by a letter that authorized Hamas's leader Ismail Haniyeh to form a government, but on the condition that he "respect" agreements signed by the PLO, including the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the st ...

. There was significant discussion as to what the word "respect" meant, as Hamas insisted it would "respect" PLO's agreements with Israel without fully "committing itself" to such agreements.

Aftermath

The agreement failed to unite the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a c ...

and the Hamas Administration in Gaza. A further implementation

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

was signed in Doha in 2012, ratified by May 2012 Cairo agreement, both yet failing to promote joint elections. With the boycott of the Hamas, the Palestinian local elections of 2012 took place in October, without participation of Gazan residents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatah-Hamas Mecca Agreement 2007 in Saudi Arabia 2007 in Palestine Fatah–Hamas conflict History of Fatah History of Hamas Intra-Palestinian peace efforts

Content

Mecca agreement text

Mahmoud Abbas's letter to Ismail Haniyeh

Aftermath

See also

References