The 2012 Fatah–Hamas Cairo Agreement was a reconciliation accord between the ruling Palestinian National Authority

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 the fundamentalist organization

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 ...

, which currently rules over 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 ...

. Signed in May 2012 by Fatah's President

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 Hamas' leader

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 ...

, the objective of the agreement was the formation of an interim government in preparation for the elections for a new Palestinian government. However, the agreement soon fell apart, and steps of major reconciliation were not made until January 2013.

Background

Tensions between political parties Fatah and Hamas have gone on since 2007. Problems between the two parties have been numerous, but namely arguments have risen on how to deal with Israel. Hamas has written off any type of settlement with Israel, believing that it should not have a right to exist in the first place, while Fatah has agreed in the past to work with Israel. On February 8, 2007, Hamas and Fatah signed the

Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement The Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement was signed between Fatah and Hamas in the city of Mecca on 8 February 2007, agreeing to stop the internal military confrontations in the Gaza Strip and form a government of national unity. Representatives from th ...

. In April 2011, they signed an agreement in Cairo, which intended to end the

Fatah–Hamas conflict The Fatah–Hamas conflict () is an ongoing political and strategic conflict between Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian political parties in the Palestinian territories, leading to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The ...

. On February 7, 2012, the parties signed the Doha agreement in the Qatari capital

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, placing Abbas at the head of an interim government of independent technocrats charged with organizing elections later in 2012.''New Palestinian government will respect PLO accords, Abbas says''
. AFP/Al Arabiya, 19 February 2012 The accord, however, failed on implementation. Other agreements that attempted to bridge peace between the two parties were the 2011 Cairo Agreement, the Fatah-Hamas Mecca Agreement, the 2012 Doha Agreement, and the 2014 Beach Refugee Camp Agreement.

The Agreement

On May 20, 2012, Hamas and Fatah signed another agreement in Cairo, this time to prepare for elections for the new united government of the West Bank and Gaza. The new agreement took steps to carry out the previous Fatah–Hamas Doha Agreement, including the registering of new voters in the Gaza Strip and the formation of an interim government from May 27.''Palestinians Sign Deal to Set Up Elections''
New York Times, 20 May 2012 Neither party was able to come to a compromise with each other's requests. Fatah's took issue with Hamas over the latter's power in the Gaza Strip, citing that Hamas should give up some of its control. Hamas, on the other hand, would not agree to compromise so long as Fatah continued to appease Israel. The agreement was put on hiatus until May 2012, due to both parties reaching a standstill. The negotiations over the agreement were terminated due to continued disagreements between the parties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2012 Cairo Agreement 2012 in Egypt 2012 in Palestine Egypt–Palestine relations Fatah–Hamas conflict History of Fatah History of Hamas Intra-Palestinian peace efforts 2010s in Cairo April 2012 in Africa 2002 in international relations Egypt in the Arab–Israeli conflict Military history of Cairo

Background

The Agreement

See also

References