President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyyeh announced on November 23 that the two sides would resume national unity Government talks after negotiations faltered yet again following mutual accusations between Hamas and Fateh. Abbas and Haniyyeh are scheduled to meet today, November 25, in Gaza city. If talks go well, the two men are slated to make a joint tour of several Arab countries next week, including Jordan and Egypt.

Earlier, Hamas accused President Abbas of foiling Government talks by introducing new conditions, including linking the formation of a national unity Government to the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and the halting of home-made Palestinian mortars being fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip. In turn, Fateh charged Hamas with stalling any progress, saying the conditions proposed by Abbas had been set from the start.

The national unity Government negotiations come a day after Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal’s meeting in Cairo with Egyptian mediators, namely Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, ostensibly to hammer out a deal that would include the release of Shalit. Along with the release of Palestinian prisoners, Hamas is reportedly also demanding the release of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Secretary General Ahmad Sa’adat and Fateh West Bank Secretary Marwan Barghouti in exchange for Shalit.

Israel has previously said it would not lift the siege until Shalit is released, adding that European aid and the resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians were all linked to the fate of the Israeli soldier.

Meanwhile, Israeli military assaults continued in the Gaza Strip, claiming over 15 lives in the past three days. On Friday, three Palestinians were killed in Gaza, including a 10-year-old boy.

Israel has rejected a proposal put forth by Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and Fateh for a mutual ceasefire in Gaza. Palestinians said they would halt the firing of mortars into Israel if Israel halted its onslaught in Gaza. Israel responded that it would continue its attacks until the Palestinians laid down their arms and stopped the firing of mortars into Israeli areas.

On November 23, 57-year-old mother and grandmother Fatimeh Juma’a blew herself up among a group of Israeli soldiers near Jabaliya, killing herself and injuring four soldiers. This marks the first time a woman of this age volunteers to carry out a suicide bombing. Juma’a, who made a videotape, which was released after her death, said she was a member of the Izzedin Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing.