Israel freezes talks as Abbas swears in unity government

President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a Palestinian unity government yesterday in a reconciliation deal with Hamas Islamists that led Israel to freeze US-brokered peace talks.

Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is dependent on foreign aid, appeared to be banking on Western acceptance of a 16-member cabinet of what he described as politically unaffiliated technocrats.

Setting a policy in line with US and European Union demands, the Western-backed leader said his administration would continue to honour agreements at the foundation of a peace process with Israel.

Hamas, which advocates Israel’s destruction, has run the Gaza Strip since seizing the territory from Abbas’s Fatah forces in a brief civil war in 2007. Numerous reconciliation efforts, largely brokered by Egypt, have failed over power-sharing.

“Today, and after announcing the government of national unity, we declare the end of division that caused catastrophic harm to our cause,” Abbas said, voicing sentiments widely shared by Palestinians, as ministers took the oath of office in a ceremony in Ramallah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet responded with a threat to hold Abbas and the new government accountable for any attacks against Israel, alluding to rocket fire from Gaza to which Israel has responded by bombing militant strongholds in the coastal territory.