Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas inked a deal to form a unity government that would pave the way for new elections in May. The pact was announced in the Gulf state of Qatar, where Hamas chief Khaled Meshal is staying. The two sides have been at loggerheads since 2006, when Hamas, an Islamist party deemed a terrorist group by the U.S. and Israel, defeated the more secular Fatah in elections and then drove it out of the Gaza Strip. The conflict led to a balkanization of the Palestinian territories, with Fatah holding sway over the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas entrenched in Gaza, which is blockaded by Israel. Reconciliation could end years of political paralysis and dysfunction among the Palestinians, but it comes at a cost. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that "it's either a pact with Israel or peace with Hamas." Given the collapse of the peace process, the Palestinians, for the time being, have made up their minds.
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