Fatah and Hamas, the two dominant Palestinian factions, are unable to agree on reconciliation or even on a truce agreement with Israel that could improve conditions for residents of Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also is head of the Fatah party, objects to the building of a seaport in Cyprus and airport near Eilat, to facilitate the transfer of goods to the Gaza Strip as part of a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas. Abbas said that these terms would be “destructive to the Palestinian cause and would kill the Palestinian dream of establishing a Palestinian state.”

According to Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Fatah official, Abbas said that an agreement with these terms would be approved only “over [his] dead body.”

According to Sheikh, Hamas is attempting to strengthen its control over Gaza, meaning that the terrorist group would no longer seek reconciliation with Fatah. But reconciliation according to Sheikh, is “the key to resolving all the problems of the Gaza Strip.”

Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman, on the other hand, accused Fatah of torpedoing a truce agreement with Israel, and that this “encourages the US administration to present plans aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause.”

Abdel Latif Qanou, another Hamas spokesman, said that the indirect talks between Israel and the terror group were aimed at lifting Israel’s blockade on Gaza and not aimed at any political agreement.

“Nor are the talks part of an international agreement where the Palestinians would be required to give up their lands or recognize the occupier, as Fatah had already done,” Qanou explained. He also said that Hamas would not be required to disarm as part of any sort of agreement with Israel.

[Photo: MEMRI TV Videos / YouTube ]