Palestinian reconciliation agreement reigns supreme on last night’s talk shows
The Egypt-brokered Palestinian reconciliation was front and center on the airwaves last night, with TV’s power couple, Lamees Al Hadidi and Amr Adib, both broadcasting live from Ramallah.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sat down for an interview with Lamees, telling the Hona Al Asema host that while both sides are keen on reconciliation, it was the Palestinian Authority’s decision to cut USD 1.5 bn in funding to Gaza that brought Hamas to the negotiation table.
Abbas also stressed that Egypt is playing an instrumental role in the process and is the only country that Palestine allows to become involved in its domestic affairs, since they also affect Egyptian national security (watch, runtime 15:37).
Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al Ahmad also sang Egypt’s praises for convincing Hamas to agree to the Palestinian government reassuming administrative control of the Gaza Strip (watch, runtime 5:25).
Fatah’s Internal Relations Commissioner General, Rawhi Fattouh, echoed the same sentiment in a sit-down with Kol Youm’s Adib, directing his thanks specifically to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Egypt’s intelligence agency (watch, runtime 4:28).
Nabil Shaath, Fatah’s external relations commissioner, noted that previous attempts to reach a unity agreement were not as fruitful as the Egypt-led effort (watch, runtime 1:58).
Adib also got a sense of public sentiment on the unity agreement by interviewing Palestinian citizens on the streets of Ramallah (watch, runtime 19:23).
On Masaa DMC, Palestinian presidential advisor Mahmoud Al Habbash told Eman El Hosary that the key difference between the current agreement and previous ones is Hamas’ commitment to seeing it through. He stressed however, that there is no rush to implement the accord, as long as there is harmony between the two sides (watch, runtime 4:13).
Yahduth fi Masr’s Sherif Amer seemed to be the only talking head interested in the Las Vegas shooting. He delved into the assailant’s past, saying that intelligence reports indicate his father was on an FBI watch list in 1969.