Jimmy Carter to attempt Fatah-Hamas mediation

Former US president Jimmy Carter is undertaking Saudi-backed mediation efforts between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, a Palestinian source said on Sunday.

"Carter has lately met with prominent Saudi officials and urged their intervention to achieve reconciliation between Palestinian factions, which was welcomed by Riyadh," the source, requesting anonymity, told the Anadolu Agency.

"The Saudi government has begun preparations for mediation between the two [Palestinian] movements to reach a 'Mecca II' agreement," the source said.

In 2007, late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz brokered the first Mecca agreement between Hamas and Fatah, which led to the formation of a short-lived Palestinian unity government.

The 2007 unity government collapsed after clashes began between the two factions months later, which culminated with Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip.

Another unity government was agreed between Hamas and Fatah in June 2014, ending a seven-year dispute between the two Palestinian movements. But the reconciliation deal has largely failed to manifest, with little changing on the ground in the Gaza Strip.

"The Saudi government is seeking guarantees from both Fatah and Hamas that they're serious about reconciliation before mediation efforts would start," the source added.

Carter recently visited Qatar and met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who assured him that his movement is serious about reconciling with Fatah, the source said.

Carter will arrive in Gaza on Thursday to hold talks with leading Hamas members, he added.

The Israeli news site Ynet had said that Carter would be arriving on 30 April on a three-day visit to Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

According to Ynet, the Israeli Foreign Ministry advised President Reuven Rivlin not to meet Carter during his visit.

"Israel has officially decided to boycott Carter's visit, but it won't bar him from entering Israel or from crossing to Gaza," the report said.

Carter has been one of the most prominent US figures to openly criticise Israel, at times using the word “apartheid” to describe its treatment of Palestinians. He also has spoken of the need to negotiate with Hamas.

"Only by recognising its legitimacy as a political actor - one that represents a substantial portion of the Palestinian people - can the West begin to provide the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons," Carter wrote in 2014.

A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Carter visited the Gaza Strip in 2009 and held several meetings with leading Hamas figures, including the group's deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh.