A website affiliated with the Hamas terror group has attacked its rival Fatah organization, after Fatah representatives took part in a meeting with Israeli political officials and academics.
The joint meeting was held in Madrid under the auspices of the Foreign Ministries of Spain and France, as well as Internet giant Google, and was attended by senior Fatah officials including the Palestinian Authority’s former Ministers for Prisoners’ Affairs. Israeli representatives included Agriculture Minister Orit Noked, Israel’s Ambassador to Spain Alon Bar, MKs Daniel Ben Simon (Labor), Amir Peretz (Labor) and Meir Sheetrit (Kadima), and Local Authorities head Shlomo Buchbut.
The website reported that former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner opened the conference, noting that the Arab spring was a surprise and predicting that the shockwaves in the Middle East will continue for several years. He said these processes will eventually lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Kouchner, according to the report, called on Arab nations to promote normalization of relations with Israel, saying Israel had lost two of its allies, Egypt and Turkey.
While the two rival factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a reconciliation agreement which saw Hamas agreeing to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, tensions have continued between the two rival factions.
Although Hamas recently threw a massive celebration to mark the 24th anniversary of its founding, it recently banned any similar festivities in Gaza to likewise mark the anniversary of the founding of the rival Fatah faction.
Fatah recently charged Hamas with avoiding reconciliation because it is banking on being made stronger by a Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt’s elections