The Carter Center issued a statement on Friday, hailing the reconciliation of once rivals Hamas and Fatah Wednesday evening in Cairo.
The center, founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, commended members of Hamas and Fatah for " having the vision to begin the process of reunifying the Palestinian people", saying that the Egyptian brokered deal provides a framework to resolve many of the longstanding issues faced by the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Representatives from Hamas and Fatah announced in Cairo on Wednesday night their intention to reconcile, after a four-year-long bitter and at times violent rift, which saw Hamas administering the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under the control of the Fatah dominated Palestinian Authority.
Israel has rejected the Hamas-Fatah unity agreement, with Netanyahu saying shortly after it was announced that "the Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both. Hamas aspires to destroy Israel and fires rockets at our cities ... at our children."
Hamas's charter calls for the destruction of Israel, and Israel and the Gaza Strip-based group exchanged heavy fire earlier this month. Hamas hit school bus with an anti-tank missile, mortally wounding an Israeli child who later died.
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