Egypt is to call a meeting of Palestinian factions next month to ratify a reconciliation pact between the Hamas group and rival Fatah movement, a Hamas leader said. Here's where matters stand on Palestinian unity: Is a deal close? It's hard to say. Both Fatah and Hamas have missed a series of deadlines for a deal in the past. But Palestinian elections, slated for January, are approaching, and both groups face the prospect of a constitutional vacuum and a wider political rift unless a ballot is held. Mediator Egypt is pushing, through a proposal sent to both sides this month, for a compromise date in first half of 2010. Hamas knows that Abbas could press ahead with a presidential and parliamentary election without a unity agreement, in response to pressure from some Fatah leaders still smarting from the loss of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in fighting in 2007. However, many in Fatah are wary of holding elections that could harden the split if held only in the West Bank. For Hamas, reconciliation with Fatah could lead to an easing of Israel's Gaza blockade and Western powers' isolation of the Islamist group. What are main issues of contension Fatah and Hamas are still at odds on the following issues: setting an election date, composition and the term of reference of the joint security force and how to govern in West Bank and Gaza until the new election date. Hamas wants a committee liasoning between West Bank and Gaza while Fatah rejects that on grounds that such a body would cement split. They propose instead forming a transitional government to prepare for elections and to reconstruct Gaza after the December-January war. If a deal is signed, what happens next? Egyptian security officers would likely deploy in the Palestinian territories, mainly in the Gaza Strip, to oversee a restructuring of the Palestinian security services and formation of a joint Hamas-Fatah police force. Fatah, Hamas and other groups would establish a committee to oversee reconstruction of homes, businesses and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip damaged or destroyed in Israel's December-January war. The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt would likely become fully operational. The transit point, largely closed since the Hamas takeover in 2007, had been Gaza residents' main link to the outside world. Who's best placed to win the next election? Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary election, but political analysts predict a weaker finish in the coming ballot, citing the hardships voters have suffered as a result of the Gaza war and blockade. While poverty is the rule in the Gaza Strip, the economy in the Fatah-dominated West Bank is improving thanks to the policies of Abbas's prime minister, Salam Fayyad, and an easing of Israeli travel restrictions in some areas. And if no deal is signed? Watch for stronger pressure on Abbas from some Fatah officials to hold an election anyway – a ballot Hamas would block in the Gaza Strip. In the absence of a unity agreement, Abbas is expected to sign a presidential decree on October 25 setting an election date in January. However, he knows that holding elections only in the West Bank may risk entrenching the division with Gaza.
