Bethlehem - Ma'an - A knowledgeable source has told Ma'an that the main obstacle to national unity is the disagreement between Hamas and Fatah regarding the distribution of the leading ministries such as the finance, interior and foreign affairs ministries.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, added that Hamas insists on holding the portfolios of the interior and finance ministries. They are willing to abandon the foreign affairs ministry, as long as it is given to an independent and decent figure. At the same time, President Mahmoud Abbas insists that the finance and interior ministries be occupied by independents.
On the same topic, the Palestinian government spokesperson, Dr Ghazi Hamad, admitted that the dialogue over the issue of the unity government has encountered obstacles since it is dependent on ending the crisis of the captured Israeli soldier, and on achieving domestic Palestinian stability.
Hamad told Ma'an that President Abbas maintained these two issues as preconditions for the unity government because Israel uses them as a guise to continue their assaults on the Gaza Strip.