User:G erika/sandbox

Lead Article/Background
The Fatah–Hamas 2012 Cairo Agreement was a reconciliation accord between Fatah, ruling the Palestinian National Authority and the (Fundamentalist Organization) Hamas, ruling over the Gaza Strip. Signed in May 2012 by Mahmoud Abbas, president of Fatah and Khaled Mashal, leader of Hamas, the overall objective of the agreement was the formation of an interim government to prepare elections for a new Palestinian government. However, the agreement soon fell apart, and steps of major reconciliation were not made in January of 2013.

Background
Tensions between political parties Fatah and Hamas have gone on since 2007. Problems between the two parties have been numerous, but namely arguments have risen on how to deal with Israel. Hamas has written off an type of settlement with Israel, believe it should not have a right to exist in the first place, while Fatah has agreed to work with Israel in the past. Other agreements that attempted to bridge peace between the two parties were the 2012 Cairo agreement were the Fatah-Hamas Mecca Agreement, the 2011 Cairo agreement, the 2012 Doha agreement, and the 2014 Beach Refugee Camp agreement.

Agreement
The 2012 agreement was originally assigned to take place in 2011, however neither party was able to come to an agreement as to who should become interim president. Additionally, neither party was able to come to a compromise with each other's requests. Fatah's issue with Hamas was over their power in the Gaza Strip, citing that Hamas should give up some of its control. Hamas, on the other hand, requested that Fatah stop appeasing Israel. Both parties could not produce a reconciliation, and thus the agreement was on hiatus until May 2012, but still neither party could come to sign the agreement due to more disagreements.