Analyst view: Fatah, Hamas agree to form interim govt, hold vote

(Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and its bitter rival, Hamas, struck a deal on Wednesday to form an interim unity government and fix a date for general election, both sides said.

Below is analyst comment on the surprise agreement:

HANY AL-MASRI, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR BASED IN RAMALLAH

Masri said he had taken part in the efforts to bring about the breakthrough, shuttling between Cairo and Damascus.

"This agreement is possible because the Egyptian regime has changed. The new administration is taking a balanced position."

Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had put pressure on Hamas to accept the Quartet conditions, "the conditions of surrender," he said.

"The failure of negotiations left Abu Mazen (Abbas) with only the path of unity ... Hamas is also in a hurry because it is worried about what is going on in Syria."

He added that resolving the issue of security forces could be left for now, with the situation left as it is in both territories under the interim, independent government.

HANI HABIB, POLITICAL ANALYST IN GAZA:

"Previous experience has taught us not to rush to judgment. We have seen in the past that agreements were fully signed, not just by initial letters, where governments were formed and then everything collapsed.

"I think the signing was an attempt by each of the two sides to satisfy the Egyptian regime and give it a sense of trust rather than a true will to reach a national agreement.

"Nevertheless, what has happened is a good step that can be built upon if the two sides are willing to put the Palestinian national interest as their top priority. But the issues under dispute are very, very complicated, so we need to be cautious."

PROFESSOR UZI RABI, ISRAELI MIDDLE EAST ANALYST AT TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY

"This is a tactical move by the Palestinians and the Egyptians in which both sides have a great deal to gain in the short term that will put pressure on Israel and the United States, although the differences between Fatah and Hamas remain and will be exposed in the long-term.

"There are three main points that will be advantageous for the Palestinians and the Egyptians in the short term: Firstly, before September's planned vote in the United Nations on Palestinian statehood it will show the world that the Palestinians are united and more ready for statehood.

Secondly, it is a chance for Egypt to expose its new foreign policy that is far less partial to Israel and the United States and heeds much more Arab aspirations, and is more attentive to Iran and Turkey.

"Thirdly, in the wake of the unrest in the Arab world, it gives Hamas and Fatah the chance to divert the attention of the population from what is happening in other Arab countries and allows Hamas to preempt a demonstration threatened by young Palestinians in Gaza who are using Twitter and Facebook to call for a unification of both factions."

EMAD GAD, EXPERT ON ISRAELI AND EGYPTIAN RELATIONS IN CAIRO

"The key factor that made this agreement possible is the change in the Egyptian regime which was for long seen to be biased against Hamas and this made Hamas all the more stubborn in the face of Egypt's role as mediator."

"Hamas's situation in Damascus is precarious so the Islamist group is looking to keep the door open with Egypt in case the Syrian sponsorship fails them."

-- Reporting by Tom Perry, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Marwa Awad and Ori Lewis