Special to WorldTribune.com

GAZA CITY — Hamas said it conducted its last Cabinet meeting before
an expected Palestinian Authority takeover of the Gaza Strip.

A Hamas statement said the Cabinet convened on May 27 for what was
termed its last session. The Cabinet said it was awaiting orders to relay
authority to a PA unity government.

“It is ready to transfer full responsibility,” the Cabinet said.

The statement was the first by Hamas that envisioned an end to its seven-year rule of the Gaza Strip. Officials said Hamas and the rival Fatah movement were advancing toward an imminent agreement on the composition of a unity government.

“The viewpoints of the Hamas and Fatah movements will be presented to President [Mahmoud Abbas] to give his final decision on the government line-up,” former PA minister Azzam Ahmed, the chief Fatah negotiator, said.

At a news conference in Gaza City on May 27, Ahmed said Abbas was expected to announce the unity government by June 2014. He said the 15-member Cabinet, led by current Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, would consist of technocrats until elections were held in 2015.

Officials said the new government would not move against Hamas security
forces in the Gaza Strip. They said Hamas, expected to maintain forces
separate from the PA, would also continue attacks on Israel.

“Palestinian reconciliation aims to unite the Palestinian people against
the prime enemy, the Zionist enemy,” Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
said. “It aims to pursue the choice of resistance and steadfastness.”

  Azzam Ahmed, Hamas Cabinet convenes last session before Palestinian Authority takeover, Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmoud Abbas, Rami Hamdallah