“I’ll be heading to beloved Gaza next Monday leading the government; I call on everybody, and every Palestinian to focus on the national interest to enable the government to carry out its job in a way that puts Palestinians first,” posted Dr. Ramy Hamadallah, Prime Minister of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority on his Facebook page. This is a step towards a renewed attempt to reconcile with Hamas, and received hundreds of welcoming comments; especially, from Gaza residents.

“You and the President are welcome; real partnership is the core of our unity,” commented Abdel-Salam Haneyya, son of the Hamas Prime Minister Ismael Haneyya, a response that reflected the positive atmosphere surrounding the Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks.

This is not the first time the two parties hold reconciliation talks, but seems to be more serious than ever before due to the regional changes pushing the two parties to unite to overcome their troubles, according to political analysts.

Gaza-based writer and political analyst Mustafa Ibraheem said to Roya that he thinks this attempt to end the division is a serious one. “Hamas is facing a very restricted siege that it can no longer endure, and Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) wants Gaza to be under his power again, it’s a mutual interest for both parties.” The split between the two parties started when Hamas won the parliamentary elections in 2006, and after the street battle that took place between them ended with dozens of deaths on both sides, Abbas forces were ousted to the West Bank, and Hamas took over Gaza by power in 2007. Since then, Israel imposed a very restricted siege on the Gaza Strip making it what has been described the biggest open-air prison in the world. Two million Palestinians in Gaza are living under very hard circumstances; infrastructure for electricity and water can barely meet the needs of people there, and more than 40% of the population are unemployed. 

These hard circumstances are making people in Gaza desperate for an imminent reconciliation that can at least grant them a decent life. Reactions to the news of reconciliation and varied between very optimistic to very hopeless; social media pages were filled with expectations about what will happen next. Fadi Arouri, a Ramallah-based journalist, mocked the reactions by posting on his Facebook that he suggests to open an office for “reconciliation gambling” that would make a lot of money.

Fadi Abu Shammala, a 33-year-old Gaza resident, says that he is optimistic as he thinks Hamas is finally ready. “Unlike many people, I’m excited and I think it will work this time, Hamas can’t run Gaza anymore, they need this reconciliation,” said Abu Shammala over the phone.

During the eleven years of the split, several reconciliation attempts, mediated by many countries, failed. Some of them did at the very last moment; this is what makes many people feel pessimistic. Ahmed Abu Shahla, a 28-year-old bank employee in Gaza, said that the news coming from everywhere is “too good to be true.” Abu Shahla said that although he really wished it would work so the borders around Gaza would open, and blackout crisis and end, he still couldn't believe it will happen. “I feel that I am watching the same movie again and again, they disappointed us many times before, there is no reason it will be different this time,” he explained.

Since Hamas announced its decision to dissolve its governing body in Gaza earlier this month, many youth groups started some initiatives to both welcome this step, and to urge the two parties to keep their words. Hamza Hammad, 24, is an activist from Gaza who is currently organizing a gathering scheduled on Thursday to support the “huge step.” Hammad said he was always a part of groups that called to end the division. “We held some gatherings before that were dispersed, but I don’t think this will happen this time, everybody wants this reconciliation to work.”